Adapting to the Fall
by Pterygio
Summary: Just over a decade has passed since Greece fell to Rome. The gods have not fared so well in the aftermath, and the last of their demigod children have banded together to save Greece from its conquerors. But when one of the Greek rebels meets a Roman officer, he is seeded with doubt. How can he fight for what's right when the line between friend and enemy is so blurred?
1. Prologue

A table stood inside a rickety building on the outskirts of Alexandria. It was covered in scraps, mechanisms, parchment, and miscellaneous parts. Leaning against it was an ordinary walking cane, its owner thinking hard about the schematic he'd been staring at for the past few minutes. He was a feeble old man named Daedalus, once an accomplished swordsman and even more accomplished inventor, though now he couldn't even walk without the aid of a stick or the bronze braces on his legs.

Back when the man was just shy of being called old, he had grown desperate. He'd begun to regret his unforgivable transgressions, but feared meeting his lifelong enemy, Minos, in the Underworld. He'd prayed to his mother, the goddess Athena, for her forgiveness and her help. Once before, she'd cursed him and branded him with a purple partridge on his neck as a reminder. And once more, she'd cursed him for daring to ask her for help. She'd granted him immortality, but didn't stop him aging until his skin felt loose, hair turned gray, and bones perpetually ached.

Many centuries later — he'd lost count — he was still trying to repent and escape from Minos's ghost, who never stopped haunting him. He'd not seen the goddess ever since, nor stepped foot in his abominable labyrinth. The entrances popped up of their own volition wherever he went, taunting him, but he'd always been able to ignore them. This made it all the more surprising when Athena emerged from a hatch in his floor that had not been there a moment ago.

"Daedalus," she said stiffly. There was something off about her. She looked older, and more tired. She seemed almost. . . weak.

"Mother," the frail demigod muttered. "You look. . . well."

She scowled. "I did not come here to chat, my disgrace of a son. I have a task for you."

Daedalus stared at her and said nothing.

"Greece is falling. By the end of this year, the war will be over. Rome will have won."

"Indeed," said Daedalus. He'd come this far south to avoid the war. Anyone with a brain could have predicted Greece's collapse more than a century ago. "And what does that have to do with me?"

"It has to do with _Zeus_." Her tone sounded bitter. "He ignored my countless warnings and refused to intervene. We're weakening. For the past several months, Hestia has been asleep. At this point, it's inevitable that I and all the other gods will join her in that fate."

"What do you mean by 'asleep'?"

"She's unresponsive. Her hearth has gone out, and she's trapped in a physical form. Though she's still alive, she's fading; we're _all _fading. Come the turn of the century, there will be none of us left — unless you do something."

Daedalus gaped. "What do you want _me_ to do? If there was a machine I could invent to save you, then Hephaestus will have already built it."

"I'm loath to admit it, but I _need_ you, Daedalus. I'm only comfortable admitting that because this is the last time we'll ever speak. Demigods are our only hope. _Find them_ — every last one. Gather them together. Train them. Lead them to save us; it's the only way. Do this, and all will be forgiven."

"All will be. . ." Daedalus trailed off, his eyes wide and heart suddenly beating faster than it had in years. "But- but _how_?"

"That is for you to figure out," said Athena. "Good luck. May you prove a better mentor to these young heroes than you were to Perdix."

Without another word, she disappeared through the hatch. And for a long time, her decrepit son stood there, rubbing the purple partridge on his neck, so many thoughts in his mind that he didn't know which to pursue. Finally, he began to dig through his things until he'd found a device resembling a thick arrowhead. He set it down on his workbench next to a fresh sheet of parchment, then, with great excitement, he set to work drawing up a fresh schematic.

* * *

Several years later, Daedalus was hobbling along, west of Cyrene. Flying in front of him was a small metal bird. He followed it into a sparsely wooded area not far from the coast, leaning on an overly-designed cane all the while. Eventually, the bird let out a small chirp, which meant that what he was tracking was near. He took a glance at the darkening sky before gesturing with his cane, and the bird flew off.

By the time it returned, the ancient demigod had impossibly built an entire wooden cabin and sat down inside, staring out the window. When he saw his tiny automaton approaching, several minutes later, he opened the door and allowed it to land on his wrist. But the bird hadn't come alone. Standing back, looking nervous, was a young boy with black hair and eyes of vibrant green.

"Step forward, boy," said Daedalus.

With a cautious mien, the boy did so. The bird chittered, and Daedalus nodded to it appreciatively.

"You have a strong aura around you, child," he said.

"Who are you?" the boy asked.

"My name is Daedalus, and I'm here to help you."

The boy was hesitant to reply. "I'm Perseus. My mom used to call me Percy, though."

"Monsters been giving you trouble?"

Percy nodded.

"How would you like to sleep with a roof over your head tonight? Then I can take you to a safe place, with others like you."

The boy's eyes lit up, though he looked doubtful. But before he could answer, a deep roar came from the woods. The old man's ears twitched; he knew that roar. Percy looked panicked, backing away and staring, frightened, at a movement in the trees. A rapid rumbling could be felt underfoot as something with heavy footsteps quickly approached.

"Minos," Daedalus spat.

A moment later, a bipedal beast emerged and beat its fists against its hairy chest. With the body of a man but the head and bulk of a bull, there was no mistaking it. He was Asterion, the Minotaur. And only one person could have sent him.

"Perseus, get back!" Daedalus yelled.

The monster's nostrils flared, and it turned its ferocious gaze in response to his voice. The old man gripped his cane and stood his ground. Asterion stamped his foot and looked ready to charge. Percy, having come to the same conclusion, threw a rock that struck the side of its head. The beast roared and turned to him, then didn't hesitate to break into a sprint.

"Idiot boy!" Daedalus started to limp forward, but it was no use.

Percy stood frozen as the Minotaur came for him, and would surely be struck. But he was a demigod, and quite clearly a powerful one, too. His natural instincts seemed to kick in, and he jumped out of the way with great speed. Asterion missed him entirely and took three full seconds to come to a stop and turn around. It started to advance once more, but Daedalus pointed his cane forward and pressed a button. A small object shot out of the end and exploded in the beast's face with a blinding flash. Asterion recoiled and blinked furiously, stunned.

"Boy!" Daedalus said urgently.

Percy looked at him, trying and failing to hide the fear in his expression.

"Once it picks up momentum, it can't stop or turn," said Daedalus. "_Use this_. It's your only advantage."

"What am I supposed to do?" said Percy.

"Don't overthink. Just find your opportunity, then kill it!"

The boy looked like he had more he wanted to say, but just then, the Minotaur regained itself. It pounded its fists on the ground and stared daggers at Daedalus. Percy threw another rock at it, but it didn't seem to care this time. It pawed the ground with its foot, then abruptly ran at the old man. He was too slow to dodge, but luckily Asterion was still disoriented from the flash and missed him. Daedalus backed away from it as quickly as he could, cursing his brittle bones.

Then, as the monster was about to turn around for another attack, the boy did something foolish. He ran forward, leaped onto its back, and tried to wrap his arms around its neck. He didn't have any weapon or any way of hurting it at all, and his arms were too short to reach. Asterion bellowed and immediately shook Percy off, who went flying. But this did accomplish one thing: Percy now had its attention.

Once more, now angrier than ever, the Minotaur charged. Daedalus watched with great unease, unable to help any more than he already had. With an immense effort, the boy got to his feet, wincing in pain. He stood his ground and waited. Then, at the last possible second, he leaped out of the way. Asterion, unable to stop, plowed right into a tree. Its horn got caught in the wood. After a short struggle, the beast managed to free itself, but not without leaving the horn behind in a resounding _crack_. It instantly made a wild grab for Percy, but he slipped through its grasp. The boy darted between its legs, wrenched the horn from the tree, and stabbed it in the side.

Asterion let out one last bellow as he crumbled into golden dust, leaving behind nothing but the bloodied horn. And even as Daedalus shambled over to the boy, who'd collapsed to his hands and knees, he was smiling. He knew he'd found someone truly remarkable.

* * *

Daedalus lumbered through the camp they'd set up a little ways away from Alexandria. Demigods were walking around, training, laughing, and living freely. The old man doubted there could be many left to find now, if any. The gods had been asleep for over half a decade, so it wasn't like they could create any new ones. And judging by the average age of those he'd found, the gods' affairs with mortals had rapidly decreased even during the years leading up to Greece's fall. The youngest of them were just reaching their teenage years, and it'd probably stay that way.

Percy waved at him as he passed, sitting hand-in-hand with a blonde girl named Annabeth. Theirs was a recent romance, though not unforeseen. They'd been close for a long time, but Daedalus had his doubts. For the time being, they were happy; he hoped he was wrong in thinking they wouldn't stay that way. But he wouldn't voice these thoughts, just like he wouldn't voice the suspicions he had about the girl's grey eyes.

The old man reached his personal workshop and locked himself inside. He glanced at the countless crumpled up sheets of papyrus and parchment that were scattered over the floor. Then he sat down with a great sigh, rubbing his temple. For years, ever since his mother had made her request of him, he'd been attempting to figure out the puzzle of how to do it, yet he'd come up with nothing. Daedalus had spent almost all of his time withering away in this shed, writing down thoughts that came into his head and then immediately discarding them. The truth was, he hadn't the faintest clue how to save the gods. He'd succeeded in gathering all the demigods in one place, but that was only half of what Athena had asked of him. In regards to the more important half, he was a failure.

The old man was saved from his helpless thoughts when a metal bird flew in through the window. Instinctively, he raised his arm for it to perch on, but he was surprised. It chirped at him, which meant it'd made a discovery, but the last time that had happened was more than a year ago. He supposed this must be one of those few birds that had gone missing.

The famed inventor placed it on his shoulder and exited the workshop without delay. It took him a few minutes to travel a distance that should've taken him one, were he in his youth. He found Chiron running some younger demigods through some drills and pulled him aside.

Indeed, Daedalus had run into the centaur only a few weeks after beginning the endeavor, and Chiron had readily accepted to aid him. They'd split up, tracking down as many demigods as they could and bringing them to safety. The two had agreed to keep the truth about the gods secret until the demigods were ready, but that wasn't the reason Daedalus had suggested it; he was, in actuality, too ashamed to admit that the smartest man alive was stumped.

"Has it found someone?" Chiron asked after spotting the bird on his shoulder.

"It has," said Daedalus. "I'm going — immediately."

Chiron looked hesitant. "Are you certain? Perhaps I —"

"I'm immortal, Chiron. This is nothing I can't handle. These kids need you more than they need me. Keep things running while I'm gone."

Daedalus had begun to suspect that his immortality was waning, but chose not to share this. As his mother grew weaker, so did her curse. And his already significantly aged body was slowly beginning to age even more. The old man didn't have long left, and he doubted he'd live to see his mother's wish accomplished. But he wasn't going to stop working toward it until the day he died, which may come sooner rather than later.

He passed by Percy one more time as he left the camp, not bothering to tell him he was leaving. The boy was his favorite student and the one he had the most hope for. More than just being naturally powerful, Percy possessed the morals and perseverance that could make him a hero on par with the greats, such as Achilles and Odysseus. If it were up to Daedalus, Percy would take up the role of leader when he was gone, but that wasn't in the stars. Most likely, Luke would be handed that title, for better or for worse.

* * *

Less than a week ago, Daedalus had arrived in Carthage on the bird's directions. Less than a week ago, he'd learned it was a trap. He hadn't even made it into the city gates before being clapped in irons by Roman soldiers. Then, with a ghost that only Daedalus could see grinning smugly behind him, their legatus ordered he be promptly transported to Rome.

So now, after spending a single night in a cell in the Republic's capital, he was being escorted to a crowded plaza by a handful of legionnaires. Standing upon a dais was the man who'd arrested him, a legatus by the name of Catreus Grace. The ghost and a soldier holding a heavy-looking axe were there behind him. The spectators were fervent in their excitement, likely wondering who it was they were about to watch die.

As he got nearer to his chopping block, the old man began to feel the fear set in. He remembered the day Athena had made him immortal, how ecstatic he'd been to have escaped Minos for good. Then, as the years continued, he became more and more miserable, realizing that immortality was indeed a curse. The dead king never stopped haunting him. It became more difficult to invent new things. At points, he'd wished he could die. Several times he'd suffered would-be fatal wounds, and was sure the intense pain was a call from Thanatos. Yet he'd healed and got to continue in his bitter, pointless existence. But now that he knew he was finally at the Underworld's gate, he was afraid.

Daedalus stood before the shouting people of Rome, now on the dais with his executioner waiting behind him and the legatus rambling on. He didn't regret that he was here. He deserved this — no amount of repentance could make up for what he'd done to his nephew. The old man had cheated death long enough, and had no more impact to make upon the world. He accepted that, despite the dread he felt. His mother's task was left to more capable hands than his; the demigods would succeed without him. In that, he had faith.

"I accept my fate," Daedalus announced. "You could at least do me the honor of reading me my supposed crimes, _Minos_." The last word was quiet enough that only Catreus Grace and the ghost could hear.

The ghost of King Minos stepped forward, smiling viciously, then talked over the legatus, who was refusing his request. "You want it spelled out for you, old man? Don't expect me to do you any honors. It's over! My work on the surface is finally at an end."

The old man was on his knees, seconds away from death, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. "After all these years, you finally won. Don't think I'm giving up when I meet you down there, Minos."

The ghost laughed, and didn't stop even once the axe had fallen. And when Daedalus was finally presented before the judges of the dead, Minos was still cackling.


	2. I

At the edge of the sea, a man sat praying on his knees. He could feel the water rhythmically run up and touch his lower legs again and again while he waited and hoped for a sign that someone was listening to him. Silently, he begged and pleaded for the father he'd never met to show him he was watching, to no avail. Just like the past several days since they'd set up camp here, the water did not respond to him. It only thrashed and churned as oceans are wont to do, lifeless and chaotic. If he didn't know better, he might have begun to doubt whether a deity even ruled over it at all.

He sighed sadly, suppressing that anger he often felt for the god who'd always ignored him. The man stood, his bare feet coming into contact with the saltwater. It tingled against his skin, filling him with a surge of energy. He'd always shared a connection with the sea as well as water in general — it strengthened him, made him quicker, and even healed him, to a degree. Even without that bond, his reflexes tended to be swift. Despite that, he likely wouldn't have been able to react in time to the movement he suddenly heard behind him were the ocean not granting him speed.

There was a splash followed by the distinct _schwing_ of a weapon leaving its scabbard. The man had come up from a quick roll, feet now deeper in water, and then faced his attacker with his sword in hand. It was devastatingly sharp and polished enough that one could see their own reflection in it. The sword was constructed out of celestial bronze, a rare and literally godly metal of which the rebellion possessed very little. The son of the sea, objectively the most powerful demigod among them, was one of few to own such a weapon.

"_Hisssss!_" His would-be killer recoiled and eyed the blade with caution, but did not retreat. Other than the fact that her skin was a pale green and had patches of scales wherever you'd expect hair to grow, she looked like a human woman from the waist up. But from the waist down, where humans had legs, a pair of serpent trunks sprouted to hold her weight instead.

"Dracaena," the man said, quickly placing the memory. He'd seen one in person only once before, but that one had fallen to another's blade.

The dracaena hissed again. She held the top half of a broken spear with two hands, each at the end of rather skinny arms. Her chest was covered by linen wraps, leaving the rest of a bony torso visible. The monster was sickly thin.

"Demigod!" she spat in Greek, the only tongue he was fluent in. "Your time isssss at an end!"

"You're sentient," he realized.

"_Yesssss._ Ssssso hear me — do away with your magic blade, and thisssss will be easssssier for usssss both."

The demigod lowered the point of his sword, but not all the way. "We don't have to fight."

"We can agree on that!"

He stared into her eyes, which were emerald green with slits for pupils, missing whites. In them, he saw a hint of fear, but more potent than that, desperation. She wasn't trying to kill him out of malice, for sport, or a thirst for blood — this was an intelligent creature just trying to survive.

"Neither of us has to die," he told her. "We can both walk away from this — or slither, whatever."

She hissed angrily. "I need sssssussssstenanccccce!"

"We can get you food."

"Only demigod blood can sssssate me!"

So maybe she _did _have a thirst for blood. The rest of his analysis still held true.

"You can't beat me," the man reasoned. "You'll be dying for nothing."

"I have no other choiccccce."

"I don't want to kill you."

"You won't!" She lunged.

She left him with no other option. The man somersaulted to the side with perfect agility. A column of water shot up behind him, splashing the dracaena in the face. He spun around, and his sword swiped horizontally in a wide arc. She let out one last hissing scream, then crumbled and dissolved into golden dust. Moments later, all that was left of her had been washed away by the currents.

He sighed as he returned his weapon to its sheath. He stepped away from the sea and onto dry land, all signs of wetness disappearing in an instant. The demigod found his boots nearby and sat to pull them on. Then, for a while, he stared sadly out toward the horizon.

He'd been fighting monsters all his life, and mostly never hesitated to do away with one. Those capable of speech were rare, and of those intelligent even rarer. Even though they bore intent to kill him and his kind, same as their insentient brethren, he found it challenging to feel satisfaction in slaying them. It felt like he was taking a human life, and he didn't kill humans.

"Percy!"

His spirits lifted. Standing to look behind him, he saw a woman his age jogging his way. She had blonde hair, grey eyes, and a gorgeous face that only he was allowed to kiss. She reached him with a cross expression that quickly turned into one of curiosity as she leaned down and picked something up.

"What's this?" Annabeth asked, holding the dracaena's half of a spear.

Percy shrugged. "Spoil of war."

"Another monster attack? This is why you shouldn't wander off on your own."

"I had it handled, and I wasn't on my own." He gestured toward the ocean.

"Fine. Fair point," she conceded. "What was it?"

"Nothing special," he lied, embarrassed to explain the truth.

"You know I've been looking for you." Her tone showed annoyance. "We're ready to move out."

"Sorry. I just had to see it one last time before we traveled inland."

"Oh." Her face softened. "I should have guessed. Let's walk and talk."

Percy nodded. She gave him a quick peck on the lips before extending her elbow to him, nudging her head in the direction of the now disassembled camp. He hooked his arm through it, and the two took off at a leisurely pace, him having to forcefully tear his eyes away from his father's domain.

"Still no response?" she asked.

He sighed. "No. Same as ever."

* * *

"Dismissed," Luke said, concluding the meeting. "Go to sleep, and don't shirk on your watch duties. Tomorrow of all days, the last thing I need is ill-rested soldiers."

He earned several nods and "Yes, strategos,"s in response from the demigods who followed him. The battle tent's entrance flapped around as rebels shuffled out. Percy was among the last to leave, giving Luke a friendly wave goodbye before exiting with Annabeth at his heel. He managed to walk a short distance before a hand suddenly caught his wrist. He turned to face his beloved, who looked pensive.

"Are you nervous?" she asked him, her grip loosening so his fingers could slide into hers.

"No?" he said. "Why should I be?"

"This is _it_ — the beginning."

"I'm pretty sure that was two months ago."

"Hardly. Declarations of war and small acts of defiance aren't enough to get Rome's attention, evidently. Intercepting this weapon delivery is the first time we'll actually be hurting them, even if only slightly. So far, they've pretty much ignored us, but I doubt that'll continue after tomorrow."

"They've underestimated us. The longer that persists, the more we can get done."

"I just fear how much they'll throw our way when they start to realize how big a threat we are."

"They have the numbers on us, but our blood gives us an invaluable advantage. They'll never send more than twice the amount of soldiers we have at us. Even if they did, we'd still win."

"That's not an assumption we can afford to make."

"To you, every assumption is an assumption we can't afford to make."

"It's the opposite of wisdom to think otherwise. I assumed my mother would one day reveal her identity or even acknowledge my existence. I assumed Chiron would come back to us one day. I assumed Thalia would recover from her injury. None of those things happened. I'd rather do everything in my power to counteract eventualities than just set myself up for more pain and disappointment."

He took her other hand and stared into her distressed eyes. "I get it. The people we've lost weigh just as heavily on me. But now more than ever, we need to have hope."

"Hope doesn't win wars."

"_We_ do. We have each other, and that's what matters. We'll find Chiron, avenge Daedalus, and win this war. Together. And that's not an assumption — it's a promise."

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. "How do you manage to stay so positive, even after all you've been through?"

"I have to keep my promises somehow, especially the one I made to you." He planted a kiss on the back of her hand. "And it's like I said — we still have each other. So long as we still have things and people to fight for, why not have hope?"

She smiled again and said, "I love you."

"I love you too."

He met his lips to hers and was saddened when she pulled away seconds later. She had a regretful look in her eyes that he chose not to see.

"Let's go to our tent," he begged.

"I can't yet," she said. "I need to see Luke."

"Can't it wait?"

"No. Tomorrow is bound to be hectic as is. It's best I get it done tonight. I'll join you in a bit, okay?"

"Alright," he said dejectedly.

He then contemplated a moment too long, as her hands slid out of his and she turned away from him at the same moment he'd planned one more quick kiss. She returned to the tent they'd just left, and Percy was resigned to walk by himself to the smaller one the two shared at night. For several minutes he waited, but his weariness soon got the better of him. Percy unwillingly drifted off to sleep alone, whilst the woman he loved was with Luke.

* * *

Percy vaguely remembered momentarily waking up in the night to someone sneaking in beside him. Despite this, he awoke come morning without Annabeth by his side. He always hated waking up alone. Returning to the world on a new day to find the one person you never wanted to be apart from right beside you was one of life's simplest luxuries, and it would have been very welcomed on the dawn of their most important mission yet.

Several minutes later, he'd tracked his betrothed to the nearby stream, isolated from the rest of the rebellion. Her hair was soaked, and he caught her just as she was pulling on her top, apparently freshly bathed.

"I guess I missed the show," he teased as he approached.

Annabeth turned and smiled at him. "Another time, perhaps."

"I missed you this morning."

"It's still morning."

"You could have woken me."

"I thought you could use the extra rest today."

He wanted to argue, but knew he had no grounds on which to do so. "Yeah, fine. How'd you sleep?"

She crossed her arms. "Unsatisfied. You were already out by the time I got there."

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I was tired."

She sighed. "There'll be other times for _that_. As for right now — I heard something interesting from Silena earlier."

"Funny. I just heard something interesting from Charles." He gently raked his fingers through her hair, taking all the absorbed water from it and dropping it back into the stream.

"The thing about Will?" She absentmindedly brushed her suddenly dry locks back with her hands.

He nodded. "Was tempted to go straight to Luke myself, but I wanted to find you first."

"You found me." She kissed him on the cheek. "Now let's go find out if these rumors hold credence."

The two lovers returned to the campsite together, Percy quickly taking a moment to down and refill his canteen first. The camp was abnormally lively for the time of day. There were no more than a handful of late-sleepers still resting while the rest were preparing for battle. Some were still waking up, others were putting on their armor, and a few were getting in some last-minute sparring. Percy wished those last ones would conserve their energy, but didn't stop to comment; Clarisse was among them, and he didn't relish the idea of picking a fight with her on most days, let alone today.

Inside the main battle tent, Luke, Ethan, and Alabaster were huddled around the table and speaking in low voices. The three went silent as soon as Percy and Annabeth entered.

"You should be preparing," Luke said without hesitation.

"Is it true?" Percy asked.

"Is what true?"

"The captives."

The rebel leader showed no reaction for several seconds before giving in. "Yes, it's true. Will returned in the night. He shot down a pigeon. Its message confirmed demigod captives are being held somewhere in Carthage."

"Then we —" Percy started.

"I was going," Luke interrupted, "to bring this up for discussion tomorrow. We don't need distractions before completing our task."

"You should have realized it wouldn't stay secret for very long," said Annabeth.

"I suppose I should have," Luke agreed. "It never seems to take long for rumors to spread around this lot."

"So what are we going to do about this then?" said Percy.

"As I mentioned, it will be discussed tomorrow."

"But it could be Nico and Bianca they have. We can't just wait —"

"We _can_, as it could also be a trap. The letter was unsigned but for a seal and requested nothing from whomever its intended recipient was. I find it suspicious that it appears to serve no purpose other than to inform, don't you?"

"If it's a trap, I'll escape. I'm not going to take a chance on this. In the time we hesitate, who knows what they could do to them. Torture or even execution — I don't intend on waiting to find out."

Annabeth put her hand on his arm to grab his attention. "Percy, I understand. I want to see them safely returned as much as you do, but Luke's right. This is too risky. You're supposed to lead this assault; we need you. We can wait one day."

He met her eyes with a determined gaze. "I can't. Anything can happen in a day's time."

"What exactly do you mean to say?" Luke asked. Ethan and Alabaster were still watching the exchange quietly with unreadable expressions.

"I'm formally insisting that you grant me leave to chase this lead, strategos. I'll go alone, so it's not as risky. If it's a trap, I'll escape, come back, and share the bad news. If not, I'll have Nico and Bianca with me, hopefully."

"And if _I_ insist you stay and do the job you were assigned to days ago?"

Percy didn't waver. "I'm not letting my friends sit in Roman custody a moment longer than I have to. Without me, you still have plenty of good soldiers left to take those weapons. You don't need me for success to be guaranteed."

He and Luke competed in a staring contest. Annabeth stood quietly beside him, out of his view, while Ethan and Alabaster watched in anticipation, as if they were hoping for something exciting to happen.

"Fine," Luke finally relented. Ethan's and Alabaster's shoulders sagged.

Percy grinned.

"Take a horse, and get this done as quickly as you can," the strategos ordered. "Don't make me regret this."

"I won't."

"Then get going. Annabeth, it appears I'll need your aid in altering our plans."

She nodded, then turned to face Percy. "Good luck, and come back to me."

"Always," he said. "I have a promise to keep."

They shared a kiss that was cut too short by Luke clearing his throat. Percy was forced to give her one last meaningful look, then turn and leave the tent. He went straight toward the edge of the encampment, where the horses were tethered, and began saddling one up. His stomach rumbled during the process, as he had yet to break his fast, but he decided he could eat while on the road. Percy fastened the last straps and turned around with intentions to grab some supplies to store in the saddlebags, only to find one of the rebellion's non-fighters running up to him.

"Percy!" Leo said. "I have something!"

Percy watched him curiously. Leo stopped in front of him, breathing a bit heavy, and extended something toward him. It looked like a large arrowhead, except it was perfectly flat and had tiny holes peppered over its face.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"I found it a long time ago, buried underneath a bunch of old cargo before we started moving around," the young inventor explained. "I think it was Daedalus's."

Percy took it and looked it over. The other side was identical. "Well, what's it do?"

"It detects demigods."

Percy stared at him. "Are you serious? How?"

"I _am_ serious. I didn't know what it did for a while because it was broken. I've been tinkering with it for months, trying to figure it out. I think there's some sort of magic to it, like how monsters can track our scents. Nyssa and Charles have been trying to help me with it, but I make more progress on my own."

"Why haven't you told anyone else about this yet?"

"Because it's still not completely fixed. I was going to show it off once I got it perfected, but that hasn't happened yet. It's in a good enough state to help you find Nico and Bianca, I think. I just heard that's where you were going. It's held up so far during testing, so I think you can trust it."

"Oh. Well, this is great. How do I use it?"

"Don't do it yet, because it might short out or something, but giving it a droplet of your blood will turn it on. Then —"

"Why does it need my blood?"

"To make it ignore you, duh. It'd be useless if it just detected the demigod holding it."

"Oh."

"As I was saying — just give it a drop of blood, then you can try pointing in different directions. It should start to shake if it's aimed near one. It'll shake more the closer you get to the demigod. So use it only when you get to Carthage. If Nico and Bianca are there, you'll be able to find them."

"This is amazing, Leo."

"Yeah, I know. That's just how I am."

Percy rolled his eyes, but while smiling. Over the years, Percy had only grown close to a handful of the many demigods within the rebellion. The rest he could stand to get to know better, but still considered them to be family. Leo was among the handful.

"Thanks for this," Percy said. "You should get back to helping with the preparations."

"Right. Good luck, man. Hope to see you soon."

With a wave goodbye, the tinkerer ran off, and Percy finished readying to depart on his own.

* * *

Carthage was a bit weathered from the recent war, but still standing strong. The buildings were prime, and the city walls only showed minor signs of damage. For the most part, an outside observer wouldn't be able to guess it had been under siege only a decade past. Its citizens could be presumed equally unaware of that. They walked about, laughed, chatted, traded, and lived peacefully under Roman rule, showing little care for the legionnaires that patrolled the streets. Percy found it strange that he shared their indifference to these soldiers, who were supposed to be his enemy. He had to doubt, though only for a moment, exactly how the rebellion could enact positive change upon these civilians, who seemed happy enough as is.

He shook himself from those thoughts and directed his focus to the demigod detector. It was vibrating in his palm while pointed directly at the wall of someone's house, but too subtly. He traversed around the building and to the other side to find the device now shaking slightly more. He continued in the direction it pointed him.

Contentedness did not equate to happiness. These people may have learned to live under the reign of the Republic and found a way to continue on with their lives, but that didn't necessarily mean they had everything they wanted. Percy could see people who were old enough to have known what life was like before the fall as he tracked the demigod or demigods that were somewhere in this city. He knew at least some of them had to have only begrudgingly adapted to these circumstances when they would really rather things be different. How many still believed in the Greek gods, despite being forced to worship the Romans'? They made the most of an oppressed lifestyle because they didn't have the option to live a better one. Percy and the rebellion could change that. Innocent people shouldn't be forced to settle for being content when they deserved to be happy.

The device fell to the ground as Percy's hand recoiled from a sudden burning sensation. It had led him to a decently sized worn down building, beginning to shake more violently until the device suddenly combusted. After stomping out the flame, he found that it had been more fragile than he'd expected. The gadget that Leo spent months trying to repair had been reduced to a pile of scrap at Percy's feet. He made a note to apologize to his friend when he returned.

Excitement masked the guilt, however, as he was staring at a building that undoubtedly had at least one demigod within. The two legionnaires flanking the entrance confirmed his suspicions that it was some sort of jailing facility. He couldn't quite understand why they'd chosen _this_ building to hold powerful captives, though. It was crumbling in places and covered with holes of varying sizes. It didn't seem all that secure to him, but he wasn't wont to complain about fortunate circumstances.

He kept his distance from the guards and scanned the prison's perimeter. At the back, he couldn't believe that he'd found a hole big enough to fit through. It was high up enough that the Romans had left it unguarded, as it would take significant effort for an intruder to get through it. Demigods, on the other hand, were naturally stronger and more agile than mortals, so getting through proved no challenge for him.

The interior, he found, was as equally decrepit as the exterior. The other side of the hole found him in an empty cell, but the part of the wall that the door latches to was missing, so he could walk right on out into a poorly lit hallway. The walls on either side of him were lined with more wrought iron doors, behind which were presumably more cells. Quietly, he progressed up the hallway, listening at every cell, and moving on when he heard nothing within. He couldn't look inside, as these were actually locked.

Eventually, when he'd almost reached the entrance that was guarded from the outside, he heard voices. He walked even more cautiously until he was at a door that had been left slightly ajar. Inside, a man and a woman were speaking in Latin, a language of which his understanding was limited. His back was faced the way he came as he pressed his ear closer to the crack, then made a terrible error. The hinges creaked, then the voices stopped. Percy froze, hearing boots shuffle about inside. He took one step back and slowly drew his sword, so as to not make a noise, but the people came out through a different door. A lock clicked behind him, and he whirled around to get a single second's glimpse at two people wearing Roman armor.

His ears popped, and he found himself on his back, blinded and with a metallic taste in his mouth. His sword rolled from his fingers as he compulsively brought his hands to the new soreness on his chest. One of them had struck him with a booming _something_, but he hadn't the slightest clue what. The woman angrily reprimanded her companion, who replied by saying something about a "demigod". Percy might have been able to translate more had his mind not been so clouded by the agony, and he'd been given more time.

He blinked his vision back into focus to see the man approaching him. Percy reached for his sword in a panic, but too slow. Something collided with the side of his head, and then he blacked out.

* * *

**A/N: If you're new to this story, welcome! Here are some things you should know:**

**There are some intentional historical inaccuracies in this story and some mistaken ones turned intentional. Carthage, for instance, did _not_ survive the siege briefly mentioned in this chapter. When I began writing this story, I didn't know that. But by the time I realized, it was too late to go back and fix it, otherwise I'd have thrown off my existing readers. So if you actually know a little bit about this time period, I'll have to beg you to look past the inaccuracies (they're all rather minor, anyway).**

**Please review! I take my writing very seriously and want to hear your feedback, positive or negative (if you have bad things to say about my work, I only beg you state it in a respectful manner. There's no need to be rude.) I want my next projects to be better than this one (which I'm very proud of), and to do that I need to know what mistakes I've made so I can avoid repeating them. If you have any thoughts, critiques, or questions, please don't hesitate to state them. I'll always reply, so long as it's not a guest review (there's no way to reply to guest reviews, for obvious reasons).**

**Enjoy the rest of the story!**


	3. II

Percy awoke in a chair and immediately felt cold chains around his wrists and ankles. He attempted to get to his feet, failing, but causing the chains he was bound in to jangle loudly. Unable to move, he simply examined his surroundings.

He was in a small room with only a basic cot in one corner and a bucket in the other. He was facing a metal door, and by the lighting, he guessed there was a window behind him. Other than that and the chair he was chained to, the cell was empty. He had to admit it was a considerably nicer prison than the one he'd attempted to break into, which unfortunately meant that it'd be difficult for him to break out of.

He didn't have long to think before a clicking noise came from the door, which was then opened for a woman to step inside. Her armor and poise indicated that she might be an officer. He surprised that Rome would even allow a woman into their ranks, let alone a position of authority. In place of the resentment he'd been reserving for his capturers, Percy felt intrigued by her.

The woman spoke in Latin, but he couldn't interpret the words. He'd have to put invest more time into learning the language with Annabeth.

"I suppose you favor this tongue?" the officer said in fluent Greek after seeing the confusion on his face.

"Yes," he answered.

"I have to apologize for the means of your capture," she said. "I believe my optio's action to have been excessive."

"Whatever it was, I say it was necessary. I might've slipped away otherwise."

She gave him a thoughtful look at his response.

"What did you do with the prisoners?" he asked.

"Prisoners?"

"The demigod captives."

"The only demigod we've ever taken captive is right in front of me."

His face fell. "It was a ruse then."

"Correct. We'd aimed to find out if the rebellion had any demigods amidst their numbers, and you didn't even wait two days to confirm our suspicions."

He cursed himself. The interrogation hadn't even begun yet and he'd already given them valuable information. He could already tell he was dealing with someone smarter than himself.

"You _are_ a demigod, then," she said. "Who's your godly parent?"

"Just getting straight into it, I see. Don't even want to exchange names first?"

"Fine. What's your name?"

"Perseus."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Different Perseus and a son of a different god," he clarified. "My friends just call me Percy."

"Well, Perseus, my century has been sent here to deal with your rebellion. If you have more demigods within ranks, this makes you a bigger threat than my legatus anticipated."

"I'm the only demigod in the rebellion," he lied, noting that she skipped past telling him her name. "I'm sure you can handle them, having two demigods yourself."

Her eyes widened at this and she quickly attempted to regain her composure, but it was too late. Her falter was all the confirmation he needed.

"I don't know what this 'optio' of yours hit me with," he said, "but I know a mortal didn't do it. And if he's a rank beneath you, that can only mean you're a demigod too. And I don't know about you, but I don't recall very many famous demigods nowadays. Most might be hesitant to believe there's still some out there, but not you — not a demigod." Leo's device also had to have been leading to _someone_, but Percy kept that one to himself.

She didn't say anything for a moment, and her expression didn't change, but he could see the fury in her eyes.

"It also helps to explain how a woman managed to gain your status," Percy continued. "Greece has been letting women fight for decades, but Rome hasn't. But they couldn't just turn a demigod away, now could they?"

"I got to my position by merit alone," she snapped, looking furious. "My optio and I are the only ones who know we have gods for parents."

He only had a moment to enjoy making her lose her temper before fully comprehending what she'd said.

"No one but you, your optio, and your prisoner," he said with a sly grin.

He didn't think he could manage to make her any angrier, but he had. She turned and knocked on the door.

"You still haven't told me your name, by the way," he called out as she left him alone in his cell.

* * *

He'd continued to attempt to break free of his constraints for an hour before a man with blonde hair entered to set him free of his chair. Percy immediately felt an aura around this new Roman and could tell he was a powerful demigod, and could only assume this was the optio the woman had talked about. He tried to get some information out of him, but the man kept his mouth shut the entire time before leaving again.

Although chains still bound his wrists to the wall, he was now able to walk around and stretch his legs. The optio also left a bowl of soup and a bowl of water on the floor, which Percy consumed greedily. He'd considered using the water to somehow try and break free, but he was too thirsty to give it a second thought. He couldn't accomplish anything with that little fluid regardless, and attempting it would give away his powers.

After a while of thinking, he began to realize how tired he was getting. Having come up with no ideas on how to escape just yet, he laid down on the cot in the corner and eventually fell asleep, uncomfortable.

The next day he awoke to the sound of a banging on the door, which opened soon after to admit the woman who had attempted to interrogate him. Percy sat up to face her with his back leaning against the wall.

"Good morning," he said. Judging by the look on her face, he could tell she didn't agree.

"Yesterday my men were expecting a carriage full of supplies," she said, her voice taut. Percy was smiling as she continued. "Instead, we received five soldiers reporting an ambush as well as three dead men."

"Dead men?" Percy repeated, the smile gone.

"Yes. Only one of the deceased was a soldier. The other two were merely innocent coachmen. What say you to this, _Graecus_?"

"I say you're lying," he responded, although he doubted his own words. He could tell her fury was genuine, which suggested she was being honest. "There weren't supposed to be any casualties."

"Is that so?" she scoffed.

"We're not murderers," he said. "We just stand against conquerors who took away our right to worship our own gods."

"I have three corpses that say otherwise."

Percy didn't know what to think of this news. He was there from the beginning. They all agreed that when they took up the sword against Rome, they'd avoid bloodshed when possible. When Rome declared war on Greece, thousands of soldiers had died on each side. They didn't want to repeat history.

Percy got to his feet and she stepped back instinctively, but Percy just paced back and forth while he thought.

"What are you doing?" she said. "Stop that."

Percy stood still and faced her. "You need to let me go," he said.

She stared at him for a moment as if to see if he was joking. "Why would I do that?"

"I was supposed to lead that ambush, but instead, I came here because I thought you were torturing prisoners. If I'd been there, things would have gone differently. I never wanted anyone to die. I need to get back there and find out who was responsible for this."

She looked at him intently, all visible anger gone from her expression. "Perhaps it seems you've misplaced your trust. If you could give me information on your rebellion, I could assure you no one else need lose their life."

Percy laughed. "Nice try, but don't think it'll be that easy, _Roman_. It's not so cut and dry. I grew up with these people. Some I may not have grown close to over the years, but you're wrong if you think one rogue in my family will make me turn against all of them and my bride-to-be."

"That's disappointing to hear. _You'll _be mistaken to think I would release a valuable prisoner on a promise."

"If I don't get back there, more people could die."

"If your so-called 'family' is as noble as you would have me believe, would they not have already dealt with this rogue?"

Percy didn't have a response to this. He needed to talk to Annabeth and Luke so he could get to the bottom of what really happened.

"I'll give you time to reconsider cooperating." She turned and left and raised her hand to knock on the door.

"Wait," he said, having sat back down.

She paused.

"I'm sorry for the deaths, on behalf of Greece," said Percy.

"Thank you," she said and knocked. "My name is Reyna, by the way."

The door opened and she left. Percy was now more determined than ever to escape this prison.


	4. III

The next day the Roman officer entered his cell once again. He'd been looking forward to it, as his time in solitude was quite dull, and the optio that delivered his food and water had been as silent as ever.

"Hello, Reyna," Percy greeted.

"Have you reconsidered?" she said.

"Nope," said Percy. "You can bat your eyelashes all you want, but you can't turn me against my family. To me, Rome is still the enemy."

Her expression tightened. "Why are you so intent on hating us?"

"Because you started a war against my country, slaughtered my people, and then forced us to worship your knock-off versions of our gods."

"Greece was at war with itself. Your country was divided and on the brink of collapse. Rome offered to bring order and unity to Greece, and you turned it down. The war that followed may have resulted in the deaths of soldiers, but we saved your people."

"Saved," he repeated. "You _saved_ us by conquering us?"

"If we'd done nothing, your city-states would still be fighting, resulting in collateral damage and loss of resources. You'd have lost many more lives continuing to fight each other than you suffered against us. You were in a constant state of war, and now you're trying to destroy the peace we've brought."

"At what cost? You razed through our armies, and now you're demanding we pay you taxes and forget our gods."

"And we share with you our food, resources, and military. The citizens of former Greece enjoy a prosperity today greater than they could ever have achieved on their own."

He opened his mouth to counter, but nothing came out. He'd grown up in Cyrene before living outside Alexandria with the demigods after his mother died. Both of those cities had still yet to be taken by Rome from Egypt. Even though the city hadn't been owned by Greece since long before he was born, it still had its culture and was still a Greek city at heart.

"Maybe," he said. "Maybe not. It doesn't matter. Rome is my enemy because they murdered Daedalus. That's something I can never forgive."

Her expression changed. Where before there had been determination and even a hint of smugness, her face now almost looked regretful. A tense several seconds passed before Reyna replied. "Daedalus. . . I was there that day. It wasn't long after I'd joined the legion. It never sat right with me, beheading an old man like that when they couldn't even read him his crimes."

"And you still fight for them."

"Yes, I do. One rogue in my family won't make me turn against all of them."

Percy shifted his gaze. "These people are your family?"

It took her a moment to formulate an answer, and she wouldn't meet his eyes while she said it. "They're the closest thing I have to one."

Percy could tell her heart wasn't in her words. It became evident that she didn't have many friends amongst her comrades, and right then, he actually felt sympathetic toward her.

"Who was he?" Reyna asked. "To you?"

"He was our leader," Percy answered. "And he was my mentor. When other people hear his name, they think of a legend who built a maze, but I remember the man that was the closest thing to a father I've ever had." He closed his eyes for a moment, the familiar sadness taking over him again. It'd been a while since he'd last let his grief resurface.

"And what of your mother?" she asked.

He looked up at her, his eyes hardened. "No. You don't get to ask about her."

She took a step back, realizing she'd overstepped her bounds, even though that shouldn't really apply to someone's interrogator. "Sorry."

"Who was your rogue?" said Percy. "Who killed Daedalus?"

"I couldn't tell you," she said. "I was just a trainee at the time. I've never met the man who gave the order for the execution. He's been retired for a few years now."

"You don't know his name?"

"No. It was never brought up, and it wasn't in a recruit's right to ask."

Percy was disappointed. He was actually managing the beginnings of a rapport with a Roman officer, and she couldn't even tell him the one name he wanted to know more than any other.

"How long are you going to keep me in here?" he said.

"It depends on how long it takes to end the rebellion," she answered.

"So after it's over, you'll execute me."

"No. Of course not. Banishment will likely be in store for you."

"Yay," he said unenthusiastically.

"You're imprisoned for treason. That's the best you can hope for if you choose not to cooperate."

"And if I do, you'd know where we've set up camp, what kind of gear we have, and how many fighters we've got. You'll raid them and capture them, most likely kill some of them. What then? You can't just banish us all. It doesn't work like that. There's no happy ending that can follow me giving you information."

"I just want peace."

"Then give us back our gods. Remove your soldiers from our cities and stop taxing us. Do that, and we'll go home and stop fighting."

"That isn't in my power."

"What I just told you is all we want. We don't rebel for the sake of chaos — we rebel for our rights. Nothing more."

She was silent, and he couldn't read her expression. After a pause, she said, "I'm sorry about Daedalus. On behalf of Rome." Then she left.

* * *

Later that day the optio came into his cell again, but unaccompanied by food or water. This time, the door clicked shut behind him.

"What is an optio, anyway?" said Percy.

"Second in command of a century," the optio answered in accented Greek.

"Why are you the one doing menial labors, then?"

"We don't trust anyone else to come in here."

"Smart. First conversation I had with Reyna, she accidentally gave over your little secret. What would happen if a lowly soldier were to hear it from me and report to a superior that you two had been lying to them?"

"Someone else would hold our prisoners — someone not as kind as us."

He'd only said what Percy had already been thinking. Even if a lower rank were to lend him their ears, Percy would hold his tongue. He was in a relatively good situation for being held prisoner, and he didn't want to risk finding himself in a worse one.

"You're a demigod," said the optio. "And a member of the rebellion. That means we can't release you until after the rebellion has fallen. Should you aid us in making that happen, we can guarantee amnesty."

"No," Percy replied bluntly.

"I don't think you understand —"

"No, _you _don't understand. I don't fight alongside strangers, I fight alongside friends and people I've known since I was a child."

"Your situation isn't going to be improving any without cooperation."

"Do you have a wife?"

He was silent for a moment before humoring the question. "No. But I'm arranged to be wed in two year's time."

"But you've never met her?"

"No."

"So you wouldn't understand, then. Imagine having a best friend who's smart, and brave, and beautiful. You grow up together, and eventually you realize you never want to be apart from her, and she doesn't want to be apart from you. I have this back at the rebellion. I promised her I'd marry her after the war is won, and I keep my promises."

"You're not winning any wars while you're in here."

"That doesn't matter. So long as she and my friends are out there, free, you're not getting any information out of me that'll help you change that."

He sighed. "Your loyalty is admirable. But what can you hope to achieve? Your numbers can't be plentiful, so how do you intend to beat Rome's armies?"

"We don't. We just need to convince you that complying with our demands is easier than fighting us. After that, we go home."

"How do you plan on doing this?"

"Nothing short of torture will make me give up our tactics."

"That's not how we do things."

"Well, I guess I should be grateful for that, but you'll be hard-pressed to get answers without it."

"Then I guess we're done talking."

"Hold on a second. I want to know — what did you attack me with?"

There was a delay in his response. "Lightning."

"Lightning? So your father is Zeus, then."

"Jupiter," he corrected with an annoyed tone, and then exited the cell, leaving Percy with a lot to think about.

* * *

Two more weeks passed where Percy had nothing to do but think and exercise in between the occasional visit from Reyna or her optio. During this time, he learned more and more about Rome and its people, and he learned quite a bit about Reyna.

He wouldn't soon be forgetting the one time he'd managed to make her laugh. In that moment, she'd let her guard down, and he knew that he could never see her as his enemy. It ended as quickly as it began, but it lasted long enough for him to see past her Roman armor to the good person wearing it.

She became distant again after that, probably realizing she was being too friendly to her prisoner. But even still, she had Percy conflicted. This was one officer in the armies of the nation he'd sworn to fight, but he couldn't bring himself to dislike her, or her optio for that matter, as cold as he was. If the first two Roman soldiers he'd ever spoken to weren't bad people, what does that say about the rest of them?

But this didn't dissuade him. He was ever determined to escape, although his first attempt didn't really pan out. Percy had managed to convince Reyna to give him something different to eat than the usual bland soup. He'd asked in particular for meat, hoping to escape from his chains, but what they'd given him had been boneless. Although Percy knew it likely they'd be cautious enough to remove the bones, he still had to try. He also really wanted to taste something other than soup, so he couldn't be disappointed.

After that, it became difficult for him to come up with new ideas. He'd had plenty of time to think but didn't have Annabeth's cleverness. So, he had no choice but to wait for an opportunity to present itself. Percy didn't know what he was hoping for, but he would know it when he saw it.

On the day of their last meeting, Reyna entered his cell. She seemed annoyed, but it wasn't directed at him.

"Do you know where your friends are right now?" she asked him.

"I could guess," Percy said.

"I have reports they're moving toward Rome, meaning my station here in Carthage is about to come to an end. We'll set sail within two days."

"I've always wanted to see the city," he said, although he had no intention of arriving at Rome. Once they got him on the water, there'd be no stopping him from fleeing their custody.

"Once there, I'll have no control over you anymore. Legatus Marcus will hold your fate in his hands." She said the name with disdain in her voice.

"You almost sound afraid of what he's going to do to me," Percy said. "Don't tell me you've actually grown to like me."

She opened her mouth to retort, but just then the door opened behind her. A young man stepped forward. "Centurion," he greeted.

"What is the meaning of this, legionnaire?" Reyna demanded.

"There's an emergency. A large brawl in the streets. There are at least a dozen ruffians, and they all have weapons."

"Inform optio Grace to take every unit down there and try and put an end to it. Take the offenders alive."

"Right away, Centurion," he said and left.

"That sounds like quite the predicament," said Percy. "You better get down there. It's not like you need to guard me when I have no way of getting out of these chains."

She stared at him, and he could see conflict in her eyes. Somehow they both knew this was the last time they'd be speaking.

"Goodbye, Reyna," Percy said. He knew she had a choice to make: guard him so he wouldn't escape, or join her soldiers and try to save lives. His opportunity had come sooner than expected.

She sighed and left without saying anything, having made her decision. She closed the door behind her, but the lock didn't click.

He waited several minutes after she left so that he could be sure there was no one left in the building. As soon as he was confident he couldn't injure anyone, he got down on one knee and placed his hand on the ground. He closed his eyes and concentrated. Suddenly, the earth started to shake. He willed it to grow more violent, and pebbles began to fall from the ceiling, but he wasn't done yet. The entire building continued to tremble, more and more violently, until the wall finally fell apart. Percy immediately jumped out of it, and a few seconds later, the ceiling fell right on top of where he'd been kneeling. Reyna would just have to find somewhere else to put those criminals.

Completely exhausted, Percy took a moment to regain his senses before examining what was left of his prison cell. Half the building had been reduced to nothing but rubble. Had he done that the day before, there'd be several dead or injured soldiers buried beneath it.

Percy walked over to the ruins and found a sharp and heavy piece of stone and used it to attack his chains. It took him a few minutes, but he finally severed them from the chunks of wall, and he was free.

Percy looked around his surroundings and saw empty streets. He took a second to breathe in the fresh air and bask in the sunlight. Still very worn out, Percy knew that he wouldn't be able to win any fights in his condition. He had to leave the city before anyone found him.

Luckily, he could feel heavy moisture in the air and knew the sea was near. He followed his senses and found himself at the edge of the Mare Nostrum. As soon as his skin made contact with the water, he felt more invigorated than he'd ever been. He felt like he regained a piece of himself he'd been apart from for too long. He willed the currents to take him away. Only a god to stop him now.


	5. IV

It took him over a week to find his way back to the rebellion. Filthy and exhausted, Percy entered the central tent where most of the demigods were gathered. Possessing nothing but the clothes on his back and the tusk from the Calydonian boar he'd had to kill on his way there, he wasn't the most intimidating sight. Regardless, everyone stopped and gaped at him immediately like he'd returned from the Underworld, and Annabeth rushed over to him with disbelief in her eyes.

For a moment, she just stood in front of him with an analytical expression on her face, as if she were trying to determine if he were real. Then she hugged him tightly, and he returned the embrace happily.

After several seconds, Annabeth pulled away and punched him in the chest. "Where have you been?" she fumed.

Percy just gave her a nervous smile and then looked at Luke. "You were right. There never were any demigod captives. I walked straight into a trap. I was only able to escape about a week ago."

"They held you captive for that long?" Annabeth said. "What did they do to you?"

"Not a whole lot, thankfully," he answered and held up the boar tusk. "The journey here was tougher than being a Roman prisoner."

"Were you able to recover your horse or your equipment?" said Luke.

Percy shifted his gaze and scratched the back of his neck. "No. It all belongs to Rome now."

Luke sighed. "Were you able to at least obtain any information while you were in Carthage?"

Percy looked around at all of the faces that were staring at him, trying to figure out which among them had broken their promise — which one he couldn't trust.

"No," he lied. "And they know I'm a demigod. It was the whole purpose of the trap — to see if there were any in the rebellion. They don't know how many we have, but they suspect there's more than just me."

"Everyone, leave us," Luke ordered, not taking his eyes off Percy.

Annabeth was hesitant to leave, but placed her hands on Percy's face and brought their lips together. He sank into the kiss, trying to make up for the lost time in just a few moments, but Luke's cough grabbed their attention, and they were forced to pull away from each other. Annabeth gave him a sympathetic smile before leaving, and Percy regretfully turned his attention back to the strategos.

Luke was a tall, well-built man with blonde hair and a deep scar over his left eye. His mother had abandoned him at a young age, forcing him to fend for himself for many years. He'd been at his lowest point with having to resort to theft in order to avoid starvation before meeting two other demigods, Annabeth and Thalia. For two years, the group traveled together until Chiron discovered them and brought them to Daedalus and the rest of the demigods. But it was already too late for Thalia, who'd died of a festered injury she sustained in a battle with the same monster that had given Luke his scar.

After Daedalus died, Luke was presented with the mantle of leader by the rest of his peers. He'd accepted it gratefully, but had to listen to Chiron, who insisted they wait to take action against Rome. It took another four years of training and preparation before Luke officially led them to war, not long after Chiron's disappearance.

"I don't think I need to tell you how much damage you've done to us with your reckless actions," Luke reprimanded.

"I do recall getting your permission before leaving, Strategos," Percy replied firmly.

"Permission to save hostages, not get captured and hand over valuable information to our enemy."

"I knew the risks when I left, and you knew them when you allowed me to go."

"And we both know that you'd have left anyway had I denied you leave, putting us in this same situation only with more for you to be punished for."

"You don't know what I would have done. Unlike some people, I keep my promises, Luke."

His expression tightened, as it usually did when his underlings dared to not address him by his title. Luke said nothing, waiting for Percy to elaborate.

"Three deaths," said Percy. "We swore when we started this that no one needed to die."

"How do you know about that?"

"I had it used against me while I was held captive. One soldier, and two coachmen. Why are they dead?"

"They fought, we fought back," Luke stated calmly. "This is a war. Enemies die at war."

"Two coachmen were not our enemies," Percy snarled. "Two _civilians_ were not our enemies."

"Delivering weapons and armor to Rome hardly makes them innocent."

"That doesn't mean they deserved to die!"

"I would lower your voice," Luke warned.

Percy took a moment to calm himself, staring in disbelief at his friend. "Who killed them?"

"It's unimportant."

"I disagree. If I had been there, we'd have taken the shipment without spilling a drop of blood. There's at least one person in our ranks I can no longer trust, and I want to know who it is."

"But you weren't there. You were too busy being captured, while this person you say you can't trust fought loyally for our cause."

There was a short silence before Percy said quietly, "are you saying you commanded it?"

"My soldiers are loyal to me. The only loyalty I'm doubting right now is yours."

Luke's scar stood out to Percy more than ever before, and he realized he didn't know the person standing before him. When Daedalus was executed, Luke had declared before them all that Rome would pay. That same day, Percy had joined the other demigods in chanting his name, electing him as their new leader. But now the man he'd called a friend had a dark gleam in his eyes. More so than angry, Percy was afraid.

"We swore a promise that —" Percy started.

"That promise was _never_ unanimous and you were a fool to think we'll be the first in history to win a war without bloodshed!"

There was a tense silence where neither's eyes left the other's. Percy felt an uncomfortable truth settle into his heart like molten lead; he didn't know the man that stood before him. Having nothing else to say to him, Percy turned and left the tent without being dismissed.

"Perce, over here," someone said, not two seconds after he'd stepped outside.

Percy looked over and saw a muscular, dark-skinned man wearing a sleeveless shirt standing by a carriage.

"Hey, Charles," Percy said as he made his way over to him.

"Glad you're back. Doing alright?"

Percy shrugged and tried to look unconcerned. "As good as I can be."

"You said you didn't have your sword anymore."

Percy sighed. "Yep."

Charles pulled a sword from a box in the carriage and held it out to him.

"That's the closest thing to your old one," he said as Percy took it and got a feel for it. "But it's not perfect. I think I can remember how you prefer your weight and balance, if you want me to work this one for you."

Percy handed the sword back to Charles. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks."

"It won't take too long. I'll let you know when it's ready." He placed the sword back on the carriage and realized Percy hadn't left yet. "Something else on your mind?"

"Yeah," he answered, having been thinking back on his conversation with Luke. "The shipment interception. Three people died. What do you know about it?"

Charles looked pained, and he glanced around as if to make sure no one else heard. "You'll want to be careful when bringing that up. A lot of people were mad about it, but others were indifferent. Luke managed to calm everyone done before a fight broke out, but it's still a touchy subject."

"Who's responsible?"

"I don't know. Honestly. You know I'm not much of a fighter, so I wasn't there to see who did it."

"Someone had to have seen it."

"But not me. I want to know who too, but asking would bring up a whole mess of trouble that I don't want to deal with."

Percy looked around at his allies, attempting to eye down which of them was a murderer. He'd known everyone here for so long, but he'd only grown close to a handful of them. Could more than one person be capable of killing civilians just because they rode a Roman carriage?

"Let me know as soon as the sword is done," he said.

Charles nodded, and Percy made his way through the camp until he found Annabeth.

Immediately after he found her, she punched him again and Percy just smiled, happy to see her.

Before Chiron vanished, the demigods had a permanent camp set up a little ways away from Alexandria — about as far from Rome as you could get. Whenever Daedalus or Chiron found a new demigod abandoned by the world, that's where they'd take them.

Annabeth had already been at the camp for about a year when Percy first arrived. She'd been a quiet girl who often followed Luke around. Having run away from home at a young age, her path eventually crossed with that of Luke's and Thalia's. Annabeth saw them as her heroes, but Thalia's death severely affected her. That, among having no real family, caused her to be quite timid when Percy first met her.

Over time, the girl with blonde hair and grey eyes warmed up to him, and they became friends. She got more vocal and lively, becoming a much more self-assured person who stopped allowing her past to define her. Even though Annabeth never showed any powers that could identify which goddess was her mother, she was the smartest and strongest person Percy knew. It didn't take him long to start to fall for her, but it wasn't until a few years later that he and his best friend finally got together, and a few more before they agreed to marry once the war was over.

"You were gone for so long!" she said. "Do you know how terrified I was? It was like Bianca and Nico all over again! I thought you might not come back!"

"I told you I'll always come back," he said. "If I could have escaped sooner, I would have. I missed you."

"I missed you too," she said, stepping closer to him. "But _never_ leave me like that again!"

"Never."

Annabeth kissed him, and there was no Luke to interrupt them this time. Despite that, Percy pulled away after only a few seconds.

"Who killed those men?" he said.

"_That's_ what you want to talk about right now?"

"Who was it?" he insisted.

Annabeth looked uncomfortable and turned away from him. "I didn't see it myself. There was so much going on at once, only a select few witnessed it, and no one's been too forthcoming with who did it after all the controversy."

Percy clenched his fists and turned away so that she couldn't see the annoyed scowl he now wore.

"All I heard was that they attacked and died in combat," said Annabeth.

"They could have easily been disarmed and left alive," said Percy.

"I know. It's terrible. It's —" She sighed and paused for a moment. "It's a casualty of war I'll always regret."

"Who led the ambush?"

"Luke did, but he wasn't the one who killed them."

Percy was silent. _My soldiers are loyal to me_, was what Luke had said. He needed to talk to someone about his doubts, but knew Annabeth would be furious with him to suggest Luke was anything less than a hero.

"Percy, let this go," Annabeth said, gently placing her hand on his arm.

"Let it go?" Percy said, turning to face her with disbelief in his eyes.

"It's not worth dwelling on this with so much to think about. We need to move forward."

"No one was supposed to die!" he snapped, causing Annabeth to take a step back from him in alarm. "We swore we'd be better than them. If we allow the murder of innocents to go unpunished, how can we honestly claim that we are? How do you expect me to go on believing what we're doing is just?"

"What's gotten into you? Nothing has changed, Percy. Rome is still the enemy. How could you suggest that we're the ones in the wrong after they held you prisoner for so long?"

"It's not so simple, Annabeth. It used to be as cut and dry as we're the good guys, and they're the bad guys, but now our side has killed civilians."

"What about Daedalus? What about Nico and Bianca? Are you going to continue to say Rome is innocent after the people they've taken from us?"

"I never said Rome was innocent. And I never said I'm going to stop fighting."

"Then what _are_ you saying?"

Percy was silent. He didn't know what he was trying to say. Rome was still the enemy. Their death toll was way higher than three, but Percy still wasn't ready to continue calling a murderer his ally, whoever they may be.

"Percy?" said Annabeth.

"I don't know," he said at last. "I'm confused. I just . . . I need some time to think."

He turned and walked away before Annabeth could say anything else.


	6. V

Percy slept alone that night, which he regretted that he'd gotten used to. After a bath in the nearby stream following his conversation with Annabeth, his skin felt brand new. He'd been so dirty for so long that cleanliness felt foreign to him. After cleaning, Percy had simply taken some time to soak in the water, where he was most comfortable. Then Charles had delivered his new sword, and Percy spent the rest of the day training before falling asleep next to the stream. All the time, his mind was preoccupied with foreboding thoughts. He couldn't figure out why his brief absence resulted in him feeling so alone among the only family he had.

Charles had done an excellent job on the sword. He'd taken the sword and thinned out the iron a lot, then somehow seamlessly melded on a razor-sharp edge of celestial bronze on one half and regular bronze on the other. Charles also carved a brand new grip out of cypress wood that contoured his hand perfectly. The quality was so high that Percy almost felt like he was holding his old sword.

Daedalus had given it to him after he was convinced Percy had mastered swordplay; he was one of the few to train with Daedalus personally over Chiron. Charles had borrowed it several times to study in order to improve his own craft, as Daedalus's work was unparalleled by any man alive. Percy thought he'd be more disappointed with losing it, but he supposed losing an object with sentimental value was the least of his worries at the moment. Celestial bronze wasn't even capable of harming mortals, so it was an effectively useless weapon against a mortal army anyway.

Percy began making his way through the camp, hoping to find Annabeth despite not knowing what he'd say to her. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or disappointed that Luke found him first.

"I can understand that being held captive for as long as you were could be taxing," Luke began after he'd ordered Percy to join him in the main tent. "But I need to know right here, right now that you're still with us."

Percy didn't answer right away. He didn't feel like he could follow Luke anymore, but Percy didn't know what he'd do if he said no. "Yes," he said at last with little emotion.

"Good. I can forgive your insubordination yesterday since it was your first day back. I won't even reprimand you for your disaster of a 'rescue' mission."

Percy's fists clenched beneath the table.

"We've moved past the next stage of planning while you were gone. Constantly moving campsites and living in tents isn't sustainable, especially when we get new recruits."

"Recruits?" said Percy.

"Yes. There are plenty of mortals in Greece that are just as willing to fight against Rome as we are. We haven't got the supplies or the housing to garrison more than we have, though. So within the fortnight, we will take a ship from the Roman fleet and sail towards Rome. We'll capture a castrum east of Neapoli and set up a permanent base. There we'll have defenses enough to send out squadrons to take food and other supplies from the city, have scouts watch the roads, and train new soldiers. Depending on how fast we can get new recruits within the walls and how little resistance we face from Rome, I believe we can have the power to take Neapoli within two years, potentially knocking out an entire legion in the process. Our numbers will only grow exponentially from there."

Percy just gaped in disbelief, barely able to hide the disgust he felt. When had Luke changed? Their original mission was to force Rome to restore everything they'd taken from Greece, but now Luke was talking about conquering cities and risking mortal lives. He didn't want to just reclaim what was taken from them — he wanted to rule.

One thing in Luke's explanation stood out to him more than the rest, though. He said that they were sailing to Rome. Back in Carthage, Reyna had said the rebellion was moving toward Rome. How could she have known that? There was an ocean between them and the capital. Could he have to worry about a spy within their midst as well?

"The first stage, obviously, is to take a ship," Luke continued. "It would take us years to go around the Mare Nostrum, so our only option is to cross it. We've already begun preparations for the assault, and as soon as our scouts bring back news of a lone ship we can catch unawares, we'll strike. Who better to help secure our victory than a son of Poseidon? So I'll ask one more time. Are you with us?"

Technically, Percy didn't know for sure that Poseidon was his father, but his powers left little evidence to the contrary. None of the demigods had ever been acknowledged by their godly parents, save for Daedalus. The only ones who knew with absolute certainty who they were a child of had been told by their mortal parents.

"Yes," he answered. "That ship is as good as ours."

Luke smiled.

* * *

After Luke went into more detail on his plans, Percy trained with some of the other demigods for a while, mainly to let out his frustrations but also to refresh his muscle memory. Percy hadn't really had the chance to train in his cell, so he was worried he'd be rusty. He still managed to beat everyone who challenged him. His last competitor, Ethan, almost got the better of him when he dropped his sword and pulled out a dagger, but Percy managed to dodge the surprise attack and pick up Ethan's abandoned sword, using them both to disarm him. As Ethan sulked away, Annabeth approached him.

"You got time for one more fight?" she asked.

"You'll lose," said Percy.

"I didn't mean with swords."

Percy sighed.

"What happened to you while you were away?"

He had an answer to that question. He could easily explain why he'd been acting differently, but the truth would only upset her. What was he supposed to say? He met a Roman woman who made him feel guilty about fighting against Rome?

"I don't know who I can trust anymore," Percy said after a pause. He wanted to talk to her about Luke more than anything, but he kept it to himself. Annabeth had idolized the man since childhood. She'd never lose the blindspot she had for him.

"Percy, you need to let this go."

"You know I can't forgive this."

"You don't have to, but you need to let this go for the time being. It doesn't have to be forever, but right now, we can't afford to be divided amongst ourselves. We're outnumbered a thousand to one. We can only hope to win if we stand united."

"And what if I don't know who I'm standing with?"

"If no one else, then stand beside me."

For so long, Annabeth had been the one person he could go to with anything. So why did he have so much to say now but felt he couldn't say it to her? She was the one person he trusted above all others, so why couldn't he trust her with this?

Deep down, a part of him knew that the rebellion would never win this war. Continuing to fight it would be the wrong thing to do as it'd hurt not only Rome, but Greece too. All he had to do was say that to her; he couldn't.

Annabeth kissed him, and Percy returned it longingly, as if he was clinging onto something he'd already lost.

"It's been a while," Annabeth said after they broke apart, one hand resting on his chest and the other on his arm. "Do you want to?"

His mind said yes, but his lips said, "No. I just want to train."

Disappointed, she walked away, but he called out to her, making her stop and turn.

"I love you," he said. That much hadn't changed.

* * *

Over the next few days, the demigods suffered multiple monster attacks. Although Percy didn't mind them as he needed a chance to test out his new sword and to vent his frustrations, Luke ordered them to tear down the camp and move closer to the coast. Monsters had yet to attack them in their new location, and it meant they'd be nearby should there be an opportunity to seize a ship. Although the move was advantageous, there was an air of tension around the camp, and most demigods were anxious. This would be their most significant move against Rome yet.

Percy and Annabeth were enjoying some time alone together a few days after the move when suddenly the sounds of shouting and footsteps pulled them from their peace. Percy quickly made his way to where the rest of the demigods were and saw them donning their armor and strapping their swords to their waists. Annabeth moved past him to talk to Luke while Percy spoke to the closest person he saw.

"What's going on?" he asked Clarisse.

She ignored him for a moment as she finished strapping on her greaves. "There's a trireme sailing east not far from the coast. We're readying to attack," she said with a malicious grin.

Percy didn't have much preparation to do. He'd lost his armor in Carthage and had yet to get a new set. It didn't matter, though, as Percy never wore armor when going underwater. It'd just hinder him, so he'd have left it behind anyway. And seeing how his sword never left his side, he was pretty much ready to go as is, so he decided to scout ahead while waiting on the others.

Venturing out of the little wooded outcrop their camp had been hidden in, Percy stood on a large beach and could spot a lone ship slowly getting closer to them. He stood and watched it while his comrades filtered in beside him. Luke took his place at the forefront of the demigods to Percy's left as everyone waited in anticipation.

"Go," Luke said to Percy at last after the ship was as close as it was going to be. "Bring it to shore."

Percy nodded as Luke turned to the archers, telling them to sever the sails after he was underwater. The vessel would be made useless without them, but they could be retrieved. What was important was that he didn't have to fight the winds for control of the boat.

Percy confidently marched forward with his heart beating fast in his chest. He wasn't all that afraid that they might lose; he was more worried about what their victory would cost.

As Percy got closer, he was able to make out the crew members aboard the ship. By his estimate, there were at least fifteen Romans on deck and another twenty below, counting the oars. Once, he might have mentally labeled them as "Bad Guys one through thirty-five", but now he feared he was risking the lives of a ship full of innocent men who just wanted to fight for their home and families, same as him.

Faces turned toward him, and he knew he'd been seen. He could still back out now. He could turn and flee and let the ship get away, but instead, he took off at a run and dived into the sea, feeling a rush of stamina overwhelm him as the water enveloped him. If he abandoned the rebellion, he was of no use to anyone. If he stayed with them, he could at least do his best to mitigate loss of life.

Once fully submerged, Percy kicked his way further from the shore, shooting through the water like a torrent. Soon enough, he was just below the hull. He stopped and waited.

After a few seconds, he heard several splashes and saw several arrows pierce the surface and gently float down toward the seabed. Shortly after, a large canvas hit the water, the only signs of damage being the severed ropes. Percy swam down to the ocean floor and stood at its highest point, his feet planted flat, and then went to work.

Summoning all his might, he commanded the ocean currents to obey him. He willed it to guide the ship toward the land, one great push against its hull at a time. He saw the oars start to row more furiously. Slowly but surely, the trireme was helplessly forced ashore. The oarsmen attempted to row their way back to the sea, but it was too far inland for their efforts to be effective. Knowing his job had been fulfilled, Percy shot his way back to the surface just before he heard a voice shout, "_Solutam_!" Annabeth had made him memorize that Latin word for this exact eventuality.

After a split-second decision, a massive wall of water erupted directly in front of the ship, towering into the sky and absorbing the entire arrow volley. Even though the water was still boosting his strength, Percy felt like passing out. He wouldn't let himself, though. He had more work to do before the battle was over.

He eyed the ship one last time before running to join the fray. One person was left on board, and they were blowing a booming horn, trying to signal for aid. Now that he had a moment to stop and think, he realized the horn had probably been blowing the entire time. For several seconds, Percy stared at the hornblower. Then he turned his back on him and joined the fray.

The Romans had the numbers on them, but none of them were demigods. They attempted to form a shield wall, but they had no time to set up due to the rebels attacking relentlessly from all sides using unconventional and varying combat styles. The battle was all but won already.

Two Romans spotted Percy and charged him at the same time, one wielding a spear and the other a sword. Quickly parrying both attacks with his sword, he rolled to the side, hooking his foot around one of his opponents' legs. The Roman fell while Percy deftly returned to his feet almost immediately and blocked the spear thrust from the one that remained standing. Sidestepping, Percy kicked the sword away from the fallen soldier right before they could pick it up again. The spearman tried another jab, but Percy struck the tip of the spear hard, lodging it into the sand. Percy then hit the disarmed swordsman in the head with his sword's hilt as he was attempting to stand up. Before the spearman could recover, Percy kicked him in the chest, sending him flying while his weapon fell to the ground. After knocking his second attacker unconscious as well, Percy turned his attention to the next nearest soldiers.

He felt bad for the soldiers as he finished off his sixth opponent and taking a look around. They thought they might die, but Percy was happy to see the demigods had all been applying non-lethal force. He only had a moment to revel in the fact that they were achieving a bloodless victory when he saw something that made his blood run cold.

Percy ran as fast as he could and tackled a demigod to the ground, their sword moments away from piercing a defeated Roman's chest. Percy got to his feet, eyeing down his comrade with fury before turning his attention to the soldier, who was clutching a deep cut in their arm and crawling away, disarmed and terrified.

"What the hell were you doing?" Percy shouted at the would-be killer.

Alabaster, who he knew to be a son of Hecate due to his aptitude with magic, raised the point of his sword at Percy. "Who's side are you on?" he yelled.

"Greece," said Percy. "The side that doesn't kill defenseless men!"

"They're a Roman," Alabaster spat, green flames engulfing his free hand.

But before their argument could go any further, hundreds of whistling sounds filled the air, and they both turned to see another volley of arrows coming toward them. Percy wasn't fast enough to block the arrows this time, but fortunately, they appeared to be warning shots as they all landed well away from the combat. Staring over the water, he saw several more Roman triremes sailing toward them, filled with battle-ready soldiers. Ignoring Alabaster, Percy ran through the fighting, looking for Luke.

When he finally found him, Luke had a pile of unconscious soldiers around him.

"We have to fall back!" Percy said to him.

Luke looked to Percy with fury in his eyes before staring over the chaos. The second arrow volley had distracted the Greeks long enough for the Romans to land some hits, causing a few demigods to flee from the combat with bleeding wounds.

"Retreat!" Luke shouted. "Retreat!"

He knew, same as Percy, that they could win against one grounded trireme, but not several on open water.

After another minute or two and several more demigods repeating Luke's order, the rebellion withdrew from the battle and fled into the forest. Percy and Luke, however, stayed back to ensure their comrades escaped. Most of the Romans seemed content to let them run, opting instead to tend to their unconscious and wounded allies. Some, however, chased after the Greeks, and Percy and Luke dealt with them before joining the rest of the demigods.

Once they were within the safety of their campsite, Luke glared at Percy with enough malice to paralyze someone. A moment passed, and he seemed to decide that yelling at Percy could wait, and went to aid in the camp's deconstruction. Percy walked to his and Annabeth's tent and started to take it down before spotting her sitting away from the edge of the camp, alone. An inexplicable sense of foreboding settling in his heart, he joined her away from the other demigods.

"I know what you did." Her voice was hollow, and she wouldn't look at him.

"What?" said Percy.

"The wave, Percy. The horn. The other ships."

He bit his lip.

"Why did you do it? You let them signal for backup and helped them spot us with the wave. You sabotaged the mission."

He was silent.

"Say something!" she said, turning to face him. Percy almost took a step back in his surprise, never having seen her stare at him with such a betrayed expression.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Why, Percy?"

"I didn't want anyone to die."

"Don't give me that. You knew a long time ago people would die, oath or no oath."

He sighed. Now was his last chance to tell her the truth. "I wasn't interrogated in Carthage. They kept me prisoner, but treated me well enough. Instead of torturing me for information, two officers just spoke with me. The more we talked, the more I realized they were good people. I'd once romanticized the idea that all Romans were evil, but it took being their prisoner for me to realize that was never true. This rebellion, our war — it's _wrong_, Annabeth. This isn't what's best for Greece."

"Stop," she said, staring at the ground.

He took a step toward her and reached out his hand, but Annabeth pulled her dagger out with tears in her eyes. "No. Leave. I don't want to marry a Roman sympathizer. . . a traitor."

"Annabe —" he started.

"Go! I'm going to tell them what you did, so leave before I change my mind about letting you run."

Percy hesitated, then heeded her wish. Annabeth broke down into sobs, and his heart yearned to go back to her — to comfort her. But he didn't. He knew he couldn't. It was over.


	7. VI

Two months after Percy separated from the rebellion, the seasons had begun to change, and the weather turned cold. He lamented this fact as he walked through the chill air whilst dragging a large painting behind him. He'd have stopped to build a fire had his pay not relied on haste, so he couldn't afford to take a break and instead had to endure the harsh temperatures. Percy knew the day wasn't even half gone yet but couldn't tell you where the sun was in the sky. The dense clouds seemed to tease him, offering comfort in the form of rejuvenating rain, but a single drop of water had yet to fall. Although displeased, he had to concede that the journey would likely be easier without having to keep water from destroying his objective.

Eventually, after over an hour of walking, he was back in Carthage. Once within the walls, it didn't take Percy long to find his client's home and invite himself in without knocking. He had all of a few seconds to enjoy the warm indoors before a heavyset man entered the room and looked at him, at first with paranoia, and then happiness once he realized who the intruder was.

"Ah!" said the man. "Mizio!"

"Misthio," Percy corrected, although he had never been the one to give himself the title.

"You have it then?" the man asked in Latin.

Percy held the painting forward, and the man took it graciously. "Beautiful! Thank you! Thank you!"

Percy watched as he hung the painting back up on a blank stretch of wall.

"The thief?" said the homeowner. "What of the thief? Did you kill him?"

"No," Percy replied in the same tongue.

"Why not? He's a criminal. Scum! I want him to pay for this disrespect!"

Percy simply shrugged.

"Bah! Half payment then."

"Full," said Percy.

The man narrowed his eyes.

"I got the painting back, you asked for no more." Percy's Latin had certainly improved recently from living in a city filled with Latin speakers, but it still left a lot to be desired. He had a long way to go before he was fluent, so unless he could speak his own language, he spoke no more than he had to.

"But what if the thief comes back? What if they take it again? I'll have to have you retrieve it for me a second time. You did half a job, you get half the payment."

"Killing the thief was never part of the job. You'll pay what we agreed."

The man appeared to want to argue further, but seemed to fear Percy too much to continue pressing the issue. Instead, he grumbled and fished out eight silver denarii and handed them over.

Bowing respectfully, Percy left the residence without any further delay and trudged through the cold again until he was at an inn. Eyes glanced at him as he walked up to the owner and placed five of his newly acquired coins on the counter, but most of the other patrons paid him no mind. The owner accepted the coins with a nod and returned with what Percy asked for every time: a bottle of wine and half a loaf of bread. The rest of the payment paid for his room.

Taking a seat as close to the fire as he could find, he took a large bite from his bread before washing it down with wine. After he swallowed, he took another swig, and before he knew it, half the bottle was gone.

* * *

The next day, Percy didn't have any luck finding work, so he had to spend what was left of yesterday's pay to feed himself. Unfortunately, he had only three denarii to his name and had to choose between wine and bread.

As he drank from his bottle, a man approached him and invited himself to the seat across from Percy. The former rebel said nothing and took a drink as the newcomer nervously fidgeted.

"You're the mercenary I've been hearing about, yes?" the stranger said at last. "My name is Nonus. I'm a merchant and have need for someone with your skill set."

"What's the job?" Percy asked, setting his bottle down on the table.

"I own a ship that I've packed with goods. I intend on sailing it with my wife and two daughters to Rome. I would feel much safer with you onboard to guard my family should something go awry."

Percy considered it for a moment and reached for the wine before the merchant scooted it out of his reach. Percy scowled, but Nonus didn't relent.

"I'll need you to be sober for this job."

Sighing, Percy sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. "What's the pay?"

Nonus's eyes lit up at that even though Percy hadn't yet decided if he'd accept the offer. "I can offer twenty denarii."

"Twenty? For several days of sailing?"

"Well, you'll be fed and given a bed out of pocket for the duration of the voyage too, mind you. And you're getting a free trip across the Mare Nostrum, as well. To buy passage to Rome would cost more than twenty denarii."

"How will I get back here?"

"I wouldn't think you'll need to. Rome is a large city with many wealthy people in need of a mercenary's services. You could do far better there —"

"No," Percy interrupted, taking his wine back from the merchant.

Not wanting to give up yet, Nonus continued. "I have a different offer. While I can't give you more coin, I could offer a partnership. My eldest daughter is unmarried. You can have her hand and be provided with a small estate so long as you owe me several more favors to be redeemed at my convenience. And with your blood, I think my grandchildren could fend for themselves just fine!"

"The blood of a Greek," Percy stated flatly.

Nonus eyed him curiously but did not seem deterred. "We sail in a week. Two days prior, meet me here if you decide to accept my offer."

With that, the merchant walked away, and Percy continued to enjoy his wine in peace.

* * *

Percy didn't know what he wanted to do with himself. He didn't want to stop fighting, but he didn't know how to do that anymore. His entire life had been centered around the demigods and the rebellion, but now he had betrayed them for what he'd thought was the greater good. He could never go back.

After being discovered by Annabeth, he'd started walking without knowing where to go. Before he knew it, he'd found himself back in Carthage. The Roman soldiers that had held him captive had long since returned to Rome, so he had no reason to fear being recognized. Still unsure of where to go or what to do, he'd decided to settle down in the city and sell his services as a mercenary while he thought things over. He'd thought drinking might help him think better, but it had the opposite effect. He hadn't been able to stop once he'd started, however, finding comfort in intoxication.

Needless to say, he was still as lost as ever when Nonus had approached him. Certainly, the capital of the Roman Republic was the last place a former Greek rebel should go, right? So when he found himself accepting the merchant's original offer of twenty denarii, he didn't know why. Perhaps there was something or someone in Rome to help him find his way. He wouldn't know until he got there.

Leaning against the rail of the ship, Percy watched Carthage slowly grow smaller and smaller when his employer approached him.

"I have to ask," Nonus said. "How does a Greek with your abilities wind up a mercenary in a Roman city?"

"Good question," Percy replied without so much as glancing at him.

"I'm sure your tale is one filled with excitement and thrills."

"It's not. And you didn't hire me to talk."

"True, true. I'll leave you alone then. But may I ask your name?"

Percy hesitated a moment. "Perseus."

"Perseus? Like the hero! Quite fitting, I would say."

Percy made a noncommittal noise, and Nonus appeared to give up on his attempts to make conversation, leaving Percy to himself.

* * *

The job was entirely uneventful. Spending the entire time just watching out for any assailants that would never come, Percy would have been bored out of his mind were he not in his own domain. Even without making contact with it, just being near the water kept him calm and relaxed. The fish and sea life that sometimes swam up toward the boat to curiously greet the sea god's son also helped to break up the monotony.

After finally docking in Rome less than a week after setting sail, Percy escorted the merchant and his family to their home and accepted his twenty silver coins before parting with them. He'd barely taken ten steps while wondering where he'd go when he was surrounded by four spear-wielding soldiers.

"Halt, Greek!" one said.

Percy stopped and held his hands up in surrender, feeling unconcerned.

"Yeah, it's him," said another soldier. "He was at the ship raid a couple months ago, fighting for the rebellion."

Percy supposed he should have expected this would be a possibility. "I don't fight for them anymore."

"A likely story," said the first one. "Hand over your weapon and come with us."

Slowly, Percy unstrapped the sheath from his pants and handed the sword over to the soldiers. He could have fought his way out of this with ease, but for some reason, he decided not to.

Once he was disarmed, the soldiers held their spears upright and surrounded him, two in front and two in back. The front two began to walk while the back two shoved him forward, signaling him to follow.

"Where are we going?" Percy asked.

"To our centurion," a soldier answered.

After a while, they arrived at what appeared to be the city's main military castrum. Once within the walls, he saw many soldiers going about their days and doing different things. He was surprised to see a familiar face.

A muscular man with sky-blue eyes and cropped blonde hair walked up to him, eyeing Percy with surprise and curiosity.

The optio stepped in front of Percy's escorts, causing them to stop. "Where'd he come from?"

"It's none of your concern, _ninth_. Out of the way," one of the soldiers said.

Reluctantly, Jason obeyed, and they continued forward. As Percy passed by the confused Roman demigod, he gave a sly grin that got a stern look in response.

Finally, they reached a man wearing armor identical to Reyna's, who looked at Percy with little interest.

"Centurion!" the four soldiers said in unison.

"What is this?" asked the officer with a bored tone.

"We caught a member of the Greek rebellion trying to enter the city."

Apparently intrigued, the centurion looked at Percy with an analytical gaze. "Are you certain?"

"I am, centurion. He was at the trireme raid back near Carthage. I fought him myself."

Percy resisted the urge to retort with, "you lost to me yourself."

"Hmm. Keep him here. The legatus will want to speak with him," the Centurion said before disappearing through a doorway. Several minutes later, he returned with a rather short man wearing similar armor, but with golden decals and wearing a purple cape. With neck-length black hair and a bushy beard to match, the man's scarred face appeared to be in a permanent scowl.

"You're with them?" he asked Percy with a gruff but not very deep voice.

"Not anymore," Percy answered.

The legatus dismissed the centurion as well as two of the soldiers. He turned his back to his remaining men and their prisoner, giving a hand signal to follow. They walked through the castrum and into the largest building in the encampment before arriving at what Percy guessed was the legatus's office. The man with the cape told the two soldiers to stand guard outside the door while inviting Percy to sit in a chair across from the one he took himself.

"So, Greek. Why did your rebellion send you to Rome?"

"They didn't," said Percy. "I'm not with them anymore."

"Your Latin is awful," he said in fluent Greek. "If you abandoned your allies, then why come to Rome? Answer in your own tongue lest you give me a headache trying to understand you."

Happy to oblige despite the insult, Percy said, "I want to join the legion."


	8. VII

The instant the words left his mouth, he knew he meant them. Percy had been looking for a way to continue fighting for the right cause — this was his opportunity. Perhaps a part of him knew this was where he'd end up eventually, but it took being escorted into a Roman military fortress for the realization to come to him.

For a moment, the officer just stared with a blank expression. "You, a Greek, want to join the Roman legion."

"Yes," said Percy.

"Do tell your tale of betrayal and hurt that made you turn your back on your rebellion and heritage." His tone was sardonic.

"No. I'm still a Greek, and I still want what's in Greece's best interests, but the rebellion isn't. I'm offering my service as payment for the crimes my friends have committed and will commit."

"How very noble of you," the legatus sneered. "Might I remind you that your 'friends' are murderers?"

"Some of them, maybe," Percy conceded with Alabaster's face clear in his mind. "And I want them to be uncovered so they can face justice, same as you. But most of them are good people with misguided goals."

"Mhm. So you want to be the hero and repent your past mistakes and save lives. You spin quite a tale. How about I tell another one? You're trying to get inside information to pass on to your allies. How does that sound to you?"

"Stupid," Percy answered. "I'm a soldier, not a spy. My face was seen on the battlefield, which made me easily recognized. I'm the worst possible choice for a spy. The ideal candidate would be someone who couldn't be easily identified as a Greek, can fluently speak your tongue, and wouldn't be so easily captured and outed as a former rebel."

"Logic be damned. How can you possibly expect us to trust you?"

"I have information. I can tell you plenty about the rebellion and their plans if you agree to allow me to join and prove my value."

"Speak, then."

"Not yet. What's to stop you from listening and denying me anyway?"

"Whatever you say I'll be taking with a grain of salt. The sooner you speak, the sooner your information can be confirmed as truth or lies."

Percy sighed and thought for a moment. After a brief mental struggle, he came to a decision. "I'm a demigod."

The legatus appeared to think it was a joke. "Oh yeah? Sure, me too."

"I'm serious. My father is — my father is Neptune. I can prove it." Percy really hoped Poseidon didn't choose that moment to finally pay attention to him.

"Right." The man rolled his eyes. "Be my guest."

Percy stood up and got down on one knee, placing his palm flat against the ground as he'd done back in Carthage. He concentrated, and the floor began to shake. At his will, it grew slightly more violent, but not enough to cause any actual damage. Once Percy was sure the legatus could feel it, he returned to his feet, and the quaking ceased. He returned to his seat as the man opposite him stared at him with widened eyes.

After a long silence, the man got to his feet and called the two guards inside. "Escort this man to a prison cell. See to it that he is comfortably accommodated while we figure out what to do with him. I want four soldiers watching his cell at all times."

* * *

"Give me a minute alone with him," someone demanded outside his cell.

"You're not our centurion," one of the four guards retorted.

"I still outrank you, now give me a minute alone with the prisoner."

After a tense silence, four sets of footsteps could be heard, then a woman appeared outside his cell.

"What do you think you're doing?" the centurion asked heatedly.

"Hello, Reyna," Percy said without sitting up from his cot. "We've got to stop meeting like this."

"What are you doing here?"

"Joining the legion," he answered. "At least I'm trying to."

"So I've heard. Why?"

"I don't know," he said honestly. "It just felt right to me."

"What are you hoping to accomplish here? Say they, for some reason, let you put on our armor and sleep in our barracks. What information do you think you're going to obtain?"

"None. I'm not here as a spy. I'm not part of the rebellion anymore."

"Why should I believe that? Why should I believe that you're not going to demolish this building the second I turn my back like the last one?"

"Oh yeah, I did do that, huh? Well, for one thing, I'd be crushed to death if I tried that here. For another, why would I break out of a place I came to voluntarily?"

"We have soldiers who saw you fight for the rebellion not that long ago — who saw you incapacitate our men."

Frustrated, Percy got to his feet and approached the bars, causing Reyna to retreat a step.

"I'm not here to play any tricks," he said firmly. "I'm here to start a new life with a new purpose. The rebellion isn't what I used to think it was, and neither is the man who leads it. I want to make things right. That's why I'm here, that's why I want to join the legion. Rome has done things that I'll never forget, but I'm willing to forgive the past so both our peoples can see a better future."

She looked at him intently, anger and distrust not absent from her face, although her expression did soften ever so slightly.

"Did you ever find your rogue?" she asked, breaking a long silence.

"Yes," said Percy. "At least I think so. At the battle, I stopped someone named Alabaster from killing a wounded Roman. It could have been him who killed the three men at the weapons interception. I want to believe that he's the only one capable of doing that, but it's not out of the question that it could be someone else."

"And what became of him?"

"Nothing. He's still out there. After I confronted him, the other ships showed up, which forced us into a retreat. It was shortly after that that I was discovered to help lure the backup ships there in the first place. And then I left the rebellion behind."

It took her a second to realize what he said. "You sabotaged your own mission? Why?"

"I didn't want anyone to die. The path they're going down is going to lead to a lot of chaos and a lot of death, and I did what I thought I had to do to try and prevent that."

She looked at him curiously, looking unsure whether or not she wanted to believe him.

"You can't expect them to trust you," she said. "No matter what you say, you'll still be a rebel to them."

"If they don't let me serve by fighting, then I'll just have to serve my sentence in here. Because what else could I possibly do?"

For a moment, she looked at him as if something in his face would reveal whether he was being honest. In the end, it seemed the results were inconclusive, and she left. The four guards retook their position, and Percy laid back down.

* * *

"Get up!" someone said, a few days after his arrival in Rome.

Rolling off his cot and rubbing his eyes, Percy got to his feet to find the cell door being unlocked by a legionnaire. He approached the bars and stepped out of the cell upon being gestured to do so. Something important was about to happen.

The four sentries surrounded him and escorted him out of the prison. Percy was led up a staircase and outside, the light of the full moon illuminating a quiet castrum. For a moment, he thought he was going back into the legatus's office but realized otherwise when they ushered him through the gate and back out into the city.

For many minutes, the group of five walked the streets in silence, only seeing a few passersby who quickly made themselves scarce upon seeing the soldiers. Percy hadn't gotten the chance to properly admire the city up close before being captured and now wished he had — it might have given him more to think about in his cell.

He had to admire the architecture. Annabeth had always been crazy about that kind of thing, even though they spent most of their time in the wilderness away from man-made constructs. The buildings had a sleek design to them that differed from the ones he'd remembered in Cyrene. While the styles were similar, Rome's layout had a more uniform and organized feeling in contrast with Cyrene's diversity. The city was undoubtedly beautiful, but it didn't have the same charm Percy remembered from home.

A sizeable amphitheater was getting nearer the more they walked, and Percy came to realize that this was their destination. Any ideas he'd had of what lay in store for him where instantly disproven.

The building wasn't too impressive, but its size made him feel slightly intimidated as they passed through the gate and into a tunnel. They came out the other side into an empty dirt arena. Sitting in the rows of seats that stacked up toward the sky were a few thousand soldiers divided up very orderly into ten sections. Six centurions seated themselves in front of each group, some looking more intimidating than others. Percy guessed the almost entire legion was here to watch whatever this was.

He was escorted to the center of the amphitheater, where the legatus stood accompanied by ten soldiers, the demigod optio being one of them. Percy met his eyes only for a moment before meeting the gaze of the legatus. Percy stopped in front of the eleven men while his guards left, presumably to join their peers in the stands.

"You can call me Legatus Marcus," said the man in the purple cape. "I had several ideas as to what to do with you, _Graecus_, but my colleagues seemed inclined to humor your request to join my legion, especially after one of our men reported you saving his life from one of your murderous friends. I, however, want to see you prove your valor first. So here's what's going to happen: you'll fight the volunteers here from each cohort. If you win, you'll be given the status of probatio. Understood?"

"Understood," Percy said eagerly, although slightly worried. He could easily take any soldier the legion sent at him, but had his doubts about the son of Zeus. If he was still keeping his parentage a secret, then Percy shouldn't expect any lightning. But the Roman's capability was with a sword was still up for debate, and demigods in general tended to master combat skills faster than mortals.

"Grace," said Legatus Marcus. The optio stepped forward, and the rest retreated, giving the two room to fight.

"My name's Jason, _cousin_," said the demigod, whispering the last word as he held a sword out to him.

Grabbing hold of the handle, Percy noticed the edge was dull — a practice sword. Giving it a small flourish, Percy took a stance and waited. After a tense silence, Marcus barked out a Latin word, and Jason suddenly had his own sword in hand. He hesitated for only a moment before striking.

It was a tender blow, not meant to hit but to see how Percy would react. Percy sidestepped to dodge the weapon and gave his own sword a tiny twirl for flash. Jason attacked again, this time a lot harder and with an angle that was difficult to evade, so Percy was forced to bring his sword up to block the blow, and their blades met. After pressing their weapons together for a few seconds, they both broke the connection at the same time and swung — Percy with a sideways swipe and Jason with an upward diagonal arc. Their swords bounced off each other, and Jason immediately thrust his forward, forcing Percy to jump back to avoid being hit.

Now out of striking distance, the two held their blunted blades at the ready and slowly circled each other, waiting to see who'd make the first move. Percy eventually grew impatient and closed the distance, and the dance of swords began.

The opponents fought valiantly, each dodging and parrying, again and again, waiting for the other to slip up so one could claim victory. As the battle progressed, they realized slip-ups weren't going to happen, so they both attempted sneaky tricks to create them. Percy attempted his roll-and-leg-hook he'd used effectively in the battle on the beach, but his opponent wasn't so easily knocked off balance. Jason tried using his fist to catch him off guard, but Percy either dodged or absorbed the blows without missing a beat.

When nearly two minutes had passed, Percy knew he'd met his match; Jason was simply too skilled. He needed to find a way to win, but knowing he had nine other fights to win, he didn't want to exhaust himself too much with his powers. Fighting defensively to buy time, Percy thought over everything he'd discovered he could do over his lifetime until he came up with a strategy.

Jason lunged forward and Percy dodged to the right, swinging his sword at Jason's side. The other demigod had to pivot awkwardly to block the strike, but was quickly able to counter with a swipe that Percy evaded. Finally, Jason brought his sword down in a massive downward arc that Percy had to roll aside to avoid, but it left a one-second opening that he was able to take advantage of. Quickly and carefully, Percy pulled as much water as he could from the air (which amounted to half a mouthful) and splashed it into his adversary's eyes. Momentarily blinded while blinking furiously, Jason was unable to see the kick to his chest coming and went flying to his back.

The optio immediately rolled over and tried to return to his feet but froze, feeling the tip of Percy's blade on the back of his neck. Percy lowered his sword and leaned against it like a cane as he watched the loser wipe his eyes with his hand and return to his feet. Jason had a glare on his face, but didn't look too angry as he extended Percy his hand.

With a tight grip, Percy shook it with a smug smile.

"That was a dirty trick," Jason said, although he seemed more impressed than annoyed. Percy tried to pull away from the handshake, but Jason held fast and tugged him closer. "You won't get the drop on me again," the optio warned before stepping back with his own mischievous smirk and handed his sword to the next combatant.

"So you beat the volunteer from the ninth cohort," Marcus said. "Let's see if you can fluke the other nine as well, _Graecus_."

Percy should have been insulted, but he wasn't. He'd dealt with his like before and knew they fed off of infuriating those they deemed beneath them. Instead, he just smiled and said, "let's have it."

Unfortunately, most of them fared better than Percy had hoped. But in the end, he had ten wins and felt very worn down. He hadn't had to use any more demigod tricks to win the other fights, which was probably the sole reason he hadn't collapsed midway through. He wanted to revel in his achievement, but didn't even have the energy for that. More than anything, he just wanted to be able to lie down — whether that was in a cell, barracks, or just right there on the ground, he didn't care.

After the tenth adversary had surrendered, all volunteers had gone back to the stands with orders to send their centurions down in their place.

"I won," said Percy. "Am I in the legion now?"

"Not necessarily," said Marcus.

Percy withheld a groan. The legatus was doing everything in his power to deny Percy his request without disobeying the whims of his superiors. Percy knew he was only doing it because of his heritage. If he were a Roman, he'd have been thrust into a suit of armor and sent into the battlefield at the first opportunity. Percy couldn't particularly blame the man for being distrustful of a former rebel, but it didn't stop him from feeling insulted.

Eventually, all of the centurions made it to the center of the construct and lined up neatly with a gap between every three officers. Percy couldn't quite count that quickly, but estimated that there were at least fifty.

"The Greek has earned his place in the legion," Marcus said, somehow managing to convey his disappointment through a loud, commanding voice. "Now it's up to one of you to grant it to him. Normally soldiers are assigned a cohort first, and then a Centurion claims into their century. But circumstances are different. I will not be forcing him upon any of you, so whoever wants him can take him. But before you get eager to snatch him up because of his flashy swordsmanship, remember he was a rebel. He fought against some of your soldiers, and I'm not particularly convinced he'll remain loyal to you. If you accept him into your century, you're claiming responsibility for him. If he betrays us or stabs you in the back, you'll be punished according to his crime. To take him into your century is to make yourself liable for his actions. Do not make this decision lightly."

After he finished talking, there was a tense quiet as the centurions made up their minds. Their answers were made plain by their expressions. Some stared with hate, others looked nervous, and most were indifferent. No one seemed eager.

"I'll take him."

All heads turned toward the far right of the line to see that the only female centurion had stepped forward.

Marcus looked at her in surprise for a moment before speaking. "Arellano. You'll endanger the lives of your comrades by allowing a Greek into your ranks?"

"I'm not endangering anyone's lives," she said. "I trust him."

Percy tried to meet her eyes, but hers never left the legatus. What was Reyna playing at? She trusted him? That was the exact opposite impression she'd left him with a few days ago.

"Then you're a fool. Color me surprised." He muttered the last bit. "But so be it. Everyone but the Greek and Arellano are dismissed."

Reyna walked toward them as the rest of the legion filed out of the amphitheater.

"You're a probatio, now," Marcus said to Percy. "You'll be expected to fight and train like the rest of the legionnaires, but will not receive any pay. You'll be quartered in a cell, for the safety of your new comrades. Should the day ever come when you somehow prove your loyalty to the Republic, then you'll be granted the title and perks of a legionnaire. Until then, you'll just have to make do. Arellano, brief your new recruit."

She nodded and started out of the amphitheater. Percy made to follow her, but a hand held him fast.

"Try not to fuck her too soon," Marcus said with a low voice.

Percy hated him. Just like that, Percy loathed the legatus with every fiber of his being**.**

Once outside of the building, Reyna confronted him with a fiery look in her eye.

"If you even think about betraying the legion, know that I'll punish you ten times worse than however Marcus intends to punish me," she warned.

"Whoah," said Percy. "What happened to 'I trust him'? We're allies now, Reyna."

"I'm your centurion, probatio. That means you will obey my every order. So right now, I'm ordering you to forget any loyalties you had toward the rebellion. If you want to be a legionnaire, then play the part."

"I can do that. All that's behind me. I promise."

"Good. Given time, I hope you'll prove your honesty."

She turned and started walking with a brisk pace, Percy hurriedly following alongside her.

"Why did you do it?" he asked after a silence.

She glanced over at him and said, "I don't know. It just felt right to me."


	9. VIII

The first sound Percy heard the next morning was that of jangling metal. As he rubbed his eyes open, he saw a familiar blonde optio opening his cell, wearing full armor.

"Get up, Probatio. There's work to do," said Jason.

Percy exited the cell tiredly, having not gotten much sleep the previous night due to the event in the amphitheater and the subsequent earful Reyna gave him about his new responsibilities as an enlisted member of the Roman military.

"What're we doing?" Percy asked.

"We're going to the armory to get you outfitted," said Jason. "Then we train."

Percy groaned. He'd seen what all the other legionnaires wore: thick, metal suits of armor and a large, heavy helmet. Percy's style was no armor at all or light, flexible armor that wouldn't restrict his movement. Part of why he was so good with a sword was because he was quick and agile. Being burdened by a heavy suit of armor would greatly hinder his ability to fight like he was used to, and he was not looking forward to it.

Any hopes of being allowed to wear something he was actually comfortable in were squashed the instant they arrived in the armory. After being informed it wasn't optional, Percy strapped on about half his weight in metal and reluctantly put on a helmet.

"I look forward to a rematch," Jason said with a smirk.

Percy got even sadder with the next objects handed to him: a large, blocky shield and a spear.

"I don't know how to use these," he said. "I'm a swordsman."

"You wanted to be a legionnaire," said Jason. "You'll follow protocol."

"You know what I'm capable of. Are you really going to waste my talents by forcing me to use this?"

Jason stared at him with a straight face for two seconds before letting out a laugh and taking the spear and shield back. "Of course not. I was only joking." He then reached into a corner and handed him a sheathed sword, which Percy gratefully took.

He drew the sword and realized it was his, the three different metals standing out. "I really hate you."

Jason smirked.

"Where's my other sword?" Percy asked. "The one I had in Carthage?"

"You buried it beneath a building," said Jason.

Percy grimaced. "Right. Guess I deserve that, then." He strapped the sheath to his waist and slid his sword back into it just as his stomach rumbled. "When do we eat?"

"After training."

"How am I supposed to train on an empty stomach?"

Jason shrugged. "We all do."

Irritated, Percy followed Jason out of the armory and through the castrum to the training grounds, where less than fifty soldiers had gathered. Jason ordered him to line up with them and did so, awkwardly aware of all the eyes that followed him. As he passed by the legionnaires, he realized there were a few female faces in the midst. Rome was less restrictive than Percy had thought. Once upon a time, he knew the mere idea of a woman wearing a soldier's armor would have been laughed at. Even though Greece had many famous female warriors, their women were never treated as though they were capable of as much as men were. He wondered when Rome had changed the tides. Until now, he'd assumed Reyna had just been a unique case.

Training went almost as poorly as he'd expected. After some very exhaustive exercises that wore him down in his new uniform, they began sparring. Percy was able to win about half of his matchups, which he was rather pleased with. Given his hindered movement, he'd expected far fewer victories.

Following training, the soldiers got to eat. Percy was happy when handed a full loaf of bread, half a cob of corn, and a cup of wine. His happiness soon diminished when he tasted his drink, finding it to be low quality and watered down. Despite his grievances, he ate and drank his fill without uttering a word of complaint.

The sizeable eating period ended, and they had to take their turn on city patrol after Reyna returned with the other half of the century. Jason took Percy along with him to show him the ropes and probably to make sure he didn't run off or forgo his duties. Despite Percy's attempts to make conversation, the hours they spent walking the city looking for any wrongdoings went mostly silent.

At the end of the day, Percy was given more watered down wine to drink and a few strips of bacon to eat before being told to return to his "sleeping quarters", more accurately defined as a prison cell. Before he could escape to his cot and enjoy some heavily desired rest, however, Reyna approached him.

"Legatus Marcus would like to speak with you," she said.

Withholding his disappointment, Percy nodded and followed Reyna toward Marcus's office.

"How was your first day?" she asked as they walked.

"Exhausting," said Percy.

"It gets better."

They arrived at a door, and Reyna opened it without knocking. The legatus was sitting behind a table, appearing to be waiting for them. Reyna took one seat across from him and Percy took the other.

"Your rebel friends are a nuisance," said Marcus. "You said you had information on them. You're in the legion now, you got what you wanted. Now give me what _I_ want."

Hesitating for a few seconds, Percy began talking.

The rebellion is made up entirely of demigods. They wanted to take a fort east of Neapoli and garrison more troops so they could eventually take over the city. Their camp was continually moving, so Percy can't know where they are at any given point in time. They the rights Rome stole from them returned and the injustices repaid. The name of their leader is Luke. Percy told Marcus all of this and more, only omitting useless details that would do more harm than good, such as his romantic history with one of the rebels.

After the legatus finally let Percy return to his cell to get some much-needed sleep, Percy felt absolutely terrible. It didn't hit him how guilty he felt until that moment. Sabotaging the ship raid and enlisting in the legion were easy enough for him to forgive himself for, but selling out the people he'd considered his family was another matter entirely. He knew Luke was leading the rebellion down an irredeemable path, and stopping it was in the best interest of both peoples, but that didn't make Percy feel any less dirty.

Perhaps he wasn't doing the right thing; perhaps Rome was just as bad as he once believed, and he was an awful person for joining them. Maybe he could have done more from inside the rebellion without betraying them. What if Luke could have been talked into a different course of action? Percy hadn't even tried to make him see that what he was doing was wrong.

It wouldn't have worked, he tried to convince himself. Luke was the most stubborn person he knew, and nothing would have changed his beliefs. Nothing short of Thalia coming back to life would even have a chance to make him see clearly.

It took Percy a while to finally drift off, and before he knew he it he was being woken up again by the son of Zeus.

* * *

On Percy's third day in the legion, Reyna's century was given a full day off. Jason unlocked his cell and just left, leaving Percy to figure out what to do with the day himself. Percy made his way to the training grounds, leaving his armor behind in the corner of his cell. His first idea was to just train anyway, but that idea was shot down when he saw another century taking up the grounds. So he opted to eat his rations and then just wander around, as he had few other ideas.

He found more members of his century scattered about the castrum and attempted to make conversation with them, but it didn't go all too well. Some of them were distrustful of him because of his past, others were in awe of him being a demigod, and the rest were simply indifferent and wanted to be left alone — or maybe they just didn't understand his less than perfect Latin. Whatever the case, people were either too skeptical or too nervous to say much to him.

He decided he could just explore the city a bit, but wasn't sure if he was allowed to leave the walls. So after some wandering, he found what appeared to be Reyna's personal quarters/office and knocked. When the door opened, he was met with a sight he probably should have expected to see, but it still surprised him.

He'd only ever seen Reyna in her armor, so seeing her in regular clothes with her glossy black hair let down from its usual braid was unexpected. For the first time, he could see that the centurion was actually rather beautiful.

"Can I help you, probatio?" she asked. Even though she was shorter than him, her posture and expression gave her an intimidating look, even without the armor.

"Hello," Percy said awkwardly, realizing he might have stared for a little longer than was appropriate. "I. . . uh, wasn't sure if I'm allowed to leave the castrum."

"You are. It's your leisure; you're free to go where ever you wish," said Reyna.

"Great. I thought as much. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't breaking any rules, or anything."

Percy was about to walk away when Reyna spoke up again.

"Where do you intend on going?"

"Not sure, really. Just thought I'd explore, I guess."

"Would you be able to find your way back?"

"Probably," he lied.

"I'll show you around," she said.

"Really?" he said, taken aback.

"Yes. And in so doing, I expect to hear the full story of why you're here."

Percy hesitated, then nodded.

She led him out of the castrum and into the city streets at a moderate pace, keeping quiet and waiting for Percy to talk. He struggled to find the right words to say and didn't really know where to start, so he just went all the way back to the beginning.

"After my mother died, I kind of wandered around aimlessly for a bit until Daedalus found me and brought me to the other demigods," he explained. "Once there, I met this girl, Annabeth, who I became best friends with, and we eventually fell in love. We were going to marry, until . . . until she caught me betraying the rebellion."

"Why'd you do it?"

He glanced over at her. "It was because of you. You and Jason," he quickly added. "When you took me prisoner, I was expecting to be tortured and interrogated, but instead, you showed me kindness. You showed me what kind of people my so-called 'enemies' could be and that it was innocent lives I was affecting by fighting a war we'd started."

She didn't comment, instead stopping and pointing out an inn where many soldiers without homes or families socialized during their free time. Percy asked if they sold wine, having grown quite attached to the liquid during his short time as a mercenary. Reyna said yes, but the best wine was sold directly from the vineyards/wineries near the edge of the city.

"There was more to it than just that, though," Percy continued as they started walking again. "I probably would have left eventually even if you hadn't imprisoned me, but it would have taken me longer to realize." He paused, thinking the right way to describe it. "After Daedalus was killed, we raised a man named Luke to be our new leader. He was the oldest of us and the best, or so I thought. When I returned to the rebellion after escaping Carthage, I asked him about the coachmen — the men that were killed. He brushed it aside and didn't care, almost seemed glad they were dead. But maybe I imagined that. And then he started talking about conquering cities and recruiting mortals, and I just . . . I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't be loyal to him."

There was a short silence before they stopped at a market place, Reyna explaining that anything and everything could be bought or traded here, from exotic foods to weapons and armor.

"I didn't want to leave, though," said Percy. "I thought I'd be able to do more good inside than out. So I stuck with them, looking for any way I could slow and hinder the rebellion so it couldn't get to the point where innocents would die. Fortunately, I was able to prevent us from successfully taking a ship, having been integral to the mission as a son of Poseidon. Unfortunately, Annabeth knew what I did immediately. After we fled the battle when the other ships came, she confronted me and told me she'd tell them what I did, but allowed me to run first. And that was the end of it."

Reyna was silent for a while, before saying, "An intriguing tale. There's one thing I don't get, though."

"What?"

"Why would she give up on you so easily?"

Dumbstruck by such an unexpected question, he said nothing.

"Would she not have understood your motivations? You said she loved you."

"I don't know," he lied. He wasn't ready to talk about this yet. Not with her.

They continued to walk around the city together, Reyna pointing out places of interest every once in a while, until Percy asked her a question. "What about you?"

She frowned. "What about me?"

"Why did you join the legion? I mean, you're a demigod. It just wouldn't be my first choice to enlist with a mortal army during a time of peace."

"I just want to serve in any way I can."

"Is that all?" he asked, disappointed.

"Yes," she said unconvincingly.

He'd hoped he was about to break through and get some backstory from her, but it appeared he still had a ways to go before she came out of her shell. At the very least, she didn't seem to distrust him anymore, which laid the groundwork for a friendship.

After Reyna had shown him everything she thought he might need to know about, they headed back to the castrum. The structure just came into sight when Reyna asked her final question. "Why are you here?"

"Haven't I already answered that?" he said.

"No. You explained why you left the rebellion, which I'm partial to believe. You didn't explain why you came to Rome."

Percy took a moment to think. "I spent some time back in Carthage after I left and found some work as a mercenary. A merchant hired me to guard his family while they sailed to Rome. I didn't really know what to do with myself, but accepted the job because I'd be more likely to find my purpose on this side of Mare Nostrum. Then I was brought before Marcus, and saying I wanted to join just felt right."

"What do you hope to achieve here? You say you want what's best for Greece. How can you attain it as a legionnaire?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "It's my best shot, though. I'll just figure it out in stride." After a pause, he realized they'd stopped walking and were now standing right outside the castrum's walls. "Thanks for showing me around."

"Of course," she said. "I wouldn't want my newest recruit getting lost and labeled a deserter this soon after enlisting. It wouldn't look good for my century."

Was that a joke? Perhaps there was a personality hidden beneath all that armor and discipline after all.

* * *

Sweating profusely, Percy struggled to his feet once again, his armor doing its best to prevent him from doing so.

"We can take a break if you want," said Jason.

"No," Percy insisted, practice sword in hand and at the ready. "I can do this."

But the optio's offer, it seemed, wasn't optional. Jason sheathed his blunted weapon, and, reluctantly, Percy did the same. The exhausted Greek dropped to a kneeling position while he caught his breath. The other demigod handed him a canteen, which Percy opened and drank from greedily. Although not surprised, he was disappointed to find it was just water.

"Come on, man," said Jason. "Leisure began two hours ago. We've trained enough for today."

It was the next day, and Reyna's century was given the second half of it off, but Percy insisted on training more. He hated how inept he felt when wearing the armor. Luke used to be the only person that could contest his swordsmanship, but with the extra weight, even the least skilled legionnaires had a fighting chance against him.

Although he didn't feel like he'd really improved at all, Percy was too exhausted to disagree with Jason. "Fine. If I wore you down that badly," he jested.

Jason patted Percy's shoulder. "You'll get better," he said and walked away.

After resting in that same spot longer than he cared to admit, Percy got to his feet and started walking back to his cell. As soon as he was in the prison building, out of the sun's sweltering gaze, he began undoing his armor straps while walking. He only stayed in the cell for a brief moment, returning up the stairs, happy, his burden left behind.

On ground level again, Percy took slow strides through the building toward the exit. The door opened, and two legionnaires from a different century walked toward him without making eye contact. Percy felt himself tense up, for some reason, but relaxed slightly when they passed him by. Then, having walked a bit farther, he heard the footsteps cease, but resisted the urge to turn around. Percy was within reach of the door when the sound of swords being slowly drawn from their sheaths met his ears. Still, he didn't turn around. He opened the door and immediately stepped back, his hand on the hilt of his own blade. His instincts proved right when three more soldiers charged through the door, weapons drawn.

Percy pivoted so that his back faced a wall and he could see all five legionnaires pointing their weapons at him. He was surrounded.

"You really don't want to do this," Percy warned.

"Speak Latin, _Graecus_," one snarled.

Sighing, Percy repeated the warning in their tongue.

"And why not? My father died fighting your kind."

"I was a child during the war Rome started," Percy retorted, for all the good it did him. He wasn't going to be able to escape this without a fight. He just hoped he could keep them talking long enough to come up with a plan. Despite being out of his armor, he was sore, tired, and up against five people in a tight space.

"And what about three months ago?" another asked furiously. "When Alexi was cut down by you animals? Were you a child then?"

The name didn't ring a bell to Percy. But he knew where he was three months ago. Three people died then, only one of which was a Roman soldier. "I was being held prisoner in Carthage when that happened."

"How convenient," the man spat.

"You can ask Reyna or Jason."

"Oh, they're not here to save you now."

There were three to his left, blocking the door leading outside to the Castrum. There were two to his right, blocking a dead end. Fighting with opponents coming at him from both sides would be suicide, so he needed to get all of them on one side. In the narrow hallway, only one or two could attack him at once without risking accidentally hitting each other, but twice as many could if they were coming from multiple angles. The easiest way to get them all together would be to get past the two on the right, further trapping himself within the building. He wasn't sure he could manage even that, so getting past the three on the left and escaping through the door wasn't really an option.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Percy asked. "I joined the legion to make up for the wrongs we've committed."

"You think we'll believe that you're not still with them? I don't buy that a Greek suddenly wants to be a Roman."

"So what's your plan, then? Kill me? You all know who my father is."

"We don't know a damned thing, except that no gods are coming to stop us."

Percy was about to make his move when he realized something: he couldn't hurt them. If he managed to win the fight, they'd just wake up and tell their superiors that _he_ attacked _them_. It would be the word of a former rebel against several sworn legionnaires. His options were to let them attack him and possibly get killed, or subdue them and be imprisoned for a traitor.

Fortunately, by some divine stroke of luck, he was rescued from having to make the impossible choice. Jason walked in with his sword already drawn and leveled it at the back of the middle man's neck. The son of Zeus's eyes passed over Percy's thankful expression and glanced at his still sheathed sword.

"Lower your weapons, and leave my recruit alone," Jason said slowly.

"You can't give me orders," he said. "We're the same rank, Grace."

"You're threatening a soldier you have no authority over. You don't want this to turn into a fight."

"Yes, I do. He deserves it!"

"That's not for you to decide. You've seen his skill, you've seen mine. Leave while you still have your pride. Need I remind you that if Marcus finds out about infighting, both our centuries face corporal punishment?"

The soldier wasn't a particularly smart man, but wasn't so dumb as to continue his course. He sheathed his sword seconds after his comrades did and made to follow them out of the building, but had his arm held tight by Jason.

"Whoever did kill Alexi is out there somewhere," Jason muttered. "Don't get yourself killed over petty reasons before you can see them brought to justice."

Shaking himself free of the grip, the other optio left quietly.

"Thanks," said Percy, unable to properly convey the gratitude he felt. "What are you doing here?"

Jason stepped outside for a second and returned, a bottle of wine in his hand. "Thought you could use a drink. Now I'm sure you could."


	10. IX

On his first day in the legion, Titus had a dulled sword shoved in his hand and was forced toward a man wielding a similar weapon. The other man watched Titus carefully, quickly noticing his crippling anxiety. He tried to give him a reassuring smile, but Titus continued to regret every decision he'd ever made.

"Fight!" his centurion barked from behind him.

His opponent hesitated for a moment before taking a meager swing. In a panic, Titus brought his sword up and was surprised to see he actually blocked the attack. He was so excited at having done something right that he didn't even notice the second swing that met his side with no resistance. He jumped and dropped his sword in surprise, though the blow hadn't hit hard enough to even leave a bruise.

There was a disappointed sigh behind him, followed by the footsteps of his centurion walking away. With his face a bright red, Titus hurriedly picked his sword back up and stood at the ready again.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Have you ever held a sword before?" his opponent asked.

A moment passed as color rose to Titus's cheeks, then he shook his head.

"Can I ask what you're doing here?"

"Serving Rome," Titus answered halfheartedly.

"Not with that stance," the man said and sheathed his sword. He walked over to him and touched Titus's arm, making Titus freeze up completely. He guided his hands and feet to specific positions before stepping back. Apparently pleased with the way Titus now stood, he said, "There. Remember that. It's the first thing you need to know about swordsmanship. Keep your back straight and your guard wide, and you'll be ready to block any attack."

Titus nodded, sweating despite the chill autumn air. His opponent drew his sword again, taking an identical stance to the one he helped Titus achieve. "Ready?"

"Yes," Titus lied.

The duel began anew, but Titus was defeated just as quickly the second time around.

"Sorry," said Titus.

"For what?"

"Being bad."

The other man laughed, only adding to Titus's embarrassment. "You don't need to apologize for that. We all had to start somewhere. Just put in the practice, and you'll get better. Trust me."

"I guess."

"I'll help you."

"You will? But. . . I'm not even in your century."

"Don't worry about it. All you need is to learn a handful of techniques, and you'll be better than most of the other recruits. My name's Alexi, by the way." He extended his hand out to him.

"Titus, and thank you," he said while accepting the handshake.

* * *

Titus was enjoying his bacon during the morning eating period when Alexi approached. Titus sat up, straighter at seeing his friend come and sit next to him.

"Congratulations, Ti," said Alexi.

"Thanks," he responded. His bacon was halfway to his mouth when he stopped and stared at it.

Alexi tilted his head. "Something wrong?"

"I still don't get it," Titus said at last.

"Get what?"

"Why'd he pick me? I'm the worst fighter in the century."

"You're loyal to a fault, Ti. If you ask me, that's worth ten times more than swordsmanship."

Titus looked at his smiling friend, and then his eyes darted to the ground with a pinkish tinge to his cheeks. "It doesn't seem right, though. I'm an optio now, and you're still just a legionnaire."

"There can only be one per century, and Jason deserved the spot more than I did."

Titus disagreed with that statement but didn't speak his mind.

"Come on," said Alexi. "Let's celebrate. I have a bottle of cider stashed away." He stood and offered him his hand.

Titus stared at it for just a second before shoving the last of his bacon in his mouth and accepting it. The instant he was standing, he dropped Alexi's hand and followed him out of the mess hall.

* * *

Titus was strapping on his armor when Alexi entered the room, grinning widely. The happiness was contagious, lighting a warm fire in Titus's heart as his friend approached.

"What's going on?" said Titus.

"Kas went into labor last night," Alexi said. "It's a girl, beautiful like her mother."

"That's amazing," Titus said, doing his best to not let the unjust sadness take hold of him, putting a supportive smile on that didn't reach his eyes.

"I just wish I could be there with them," said Alexi. "My father's there helping out while I can't, though."

"I'm really happy for you." It wasn't a total lie. Although he was feeling things that he'd never let reach the surface, more than anything, he was glad to see his friend in a state of pure, unadulterated happiness. "What'd you name her?"

"Kas. There was no other choice but to name her after her mother. She looks so much like her."

"I'll take your word for it."

"You don't have to. You can come over and meet them both."

Titus looked down at the ground. Alexi had offered to introduce him to Kassandra before, but Titus always found an excuse. Now more than ever, he knew it'd be far too painful for him. "I'm not sure I'll be able to find the time," he lied.

"We can find a time that works, eventually. You're my best friend, Ti. You should know my family."

Titus nodded halfheartedly and put on a smile. "Sure. We can find a day."

* * *

"Shields!" Titus commanded.

The entire century obeyed at once, some planting their shields in front of them while others raised theirs above their heads, creating an impenetrable wall with no gaps.

"Spears!" Titus shouted.

The tips of spears poked out from between the shields, making the unit now resemble a spiked wall.

"Advance!"

All soldiers moved in unison, taking one step at a time, swiftly making ground without breaking formation.

"Halt!"

The century stopped on a dime, standing still and waiting for the next command.

"Ease!"

The spears withdrew, and the shields separated, revealing around eighty individual soldiers.

"Dismissed!" their centurion yelled before turning to Titus. He gave him a firm pat on the shoulder and said, "Good work." Then he turned and went his own way, same as the rest of the century.

Titus was pleased with himself. He'd come a long way from the nervous boy that couldn't even keep his sword in hand during training. He never thought he'd be the one to give orders, but seeing the soldiers react so instantly and obediently to his commands just felt right to him. Of course, there was little possibility that Titus would ever actually lead them into battle. The peace they enjoyed didn't seem to be ending any time soon. Even if a new war popped up, it'd take specific circumstances for Titus to have to take control of the century instead of his centurion. But if the eventuality ever came, he'd be ready.

He didn't realize how thirsty he was until that moment — they'd been training longer than he'd thought. He opened his canteen and attempted to take a long swig from it, before lowering the empty container disappointedly. He turned and left the training grounds, making straight for the mess hall where he could refill the canteen from the water barrels.

On his way, he noticed a handful of people carrying boxes and supplies to a pair of carriages, but didn't think anything of them at first glance, ignoring them and continuing along his path. But Titus paused when he saw Jason Grace and Reyna Arellano, Alexi's optio and Centurion, among those loading the carriages. A short while later, Alexi himself appeared from the other side of the wagon. Titus immediately rushed over to him. It didn't take long for Alexi to notice him, waving with a smile when he did.

A warm feeling came to Titus's chest, despite his confusion and anxiety. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Some people have begun rebelling against the Republic across the Mare Nostrum," said Alexi. "Marcus ordered our century to deal with them, so we're sailing and setting up base in Carthage."

"Oh," said Titus, his face falling. "How long will you be gone?"

"Hard to say. Marcus doesn't seem to believe the rebellion is that big, but he could be wrong. Probably a couple months at the most."

Titus kept himself from letting out an audible groan. Two months — he didn't know if he could bear being apart for that long. He had other friends in the legion, sure, but none of them were Alexi.

"I'll miss you, man," Titus said, hastily tacking on the last word.

Alexi responded by hugging him. With both of them wearing armor, it wasn't exactly comfortable, but Titus appreciated the gesture. For just a few moments, they held each other, Titus not able to bring himself to be the one to let go. Alexi pulled away and gave him that same goofy grin that never failed to make his heart flutter.

"It'll be over before we even know it," said Alexi.

"Good luck," Titus wished.

* * *

Titus found it raining outside when he awoke one morning. He'd seen the clouds forming the previous day, but had still held out hope it would pass them over. Alas, that was not the case.

Usually, he'd be happy to see rain, as it negated the chances of being ordered to collect drinking water from the aqueduct, which was a long and painful task. Today, however, was his day off, meaning he wouldn't have to do that regardless of the weather. So he was allowed to be upset about the uncomfortable conditions and being forced to stay mostly indoors.

Reluctantly, Titus left the shelter of the barracks and trudged through the wet castrum toward the mess hall. By the time he'd entered the sanctuary of the building, he was already soaked. Grumpy, he collected his food and ate them with a couple friends he had within his century.

Once he stepped outside, a good mood swept over him that even the weather couldn't hamper. A couple of carriages were entering into the castrum. Titus hurried over to them instantly, seeing Jason and other members of that century unloading items. He looked around for a bit, but saw no sign of Alexi. Finally, Jason caught his eye and walked over to him with a somber expression.

"Where's Alexi?" Titus demanded.

"There was an ambush," the other optio said gently. "Alexi and two coachmen were killed."

Titus's blood went cold, and he didn't move.

"I'm sorry," said Jason.

Still, Titus was silent. His widened eyes were on Jason, but they didn't see him — they didn't see anything.

"We already burnt his pyre. I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to say goodbye." After he realized he wasn't going to get a response, Jason gave a reassuring pat on his shoulder and walked away. The instant the man was gone, Titus fell to his knees, the rain beating down on his defeated form.

* * *

Titus sat restlessly in the stands of the amphitheater, watching as the _Graecus_ fought and defeated some of the best soldiers the legion had to offer. With each and every battle, he grew angrier and angrier, realizing that the unthinkable was about to happen — Marcus would be forced to allow a rebel into their ranks. Titus glanced around at the rest of the legionnaires, seeing many that were equally displeased about the unfolding events. Some of them he knew by name, and could probably be convinced to help him take the Greek down. Titus would worry about that later, though. There was still a chance the supposed demigod could be defeated, although with each passing moment, it became more apparent that he wouldn't.

When the legatus had asked for fighters to volunteer, Titus had been the first to step forward despite never having been one of the best combatants. Marcus scoffed at the idea instantly and accepted Jason instead, which he couldn't really blame; Jason had a much better chance at winning than Titus did, but he wouldn't kill the Greek.

By the time the final fight had begun, Titus's centurion had to physically hold him down to stop him from jumping down into the arena and attacking him himself. He knew it was a crime punishable by death, but he didn't care. His fury was so intense that all he cared about was seeing the rebel scoundrel dead. He'd die himself before letting a murderous savage into their defenses, where he could kill more of the people he cared about.

In the end, the man who claimed to be a demigod stood victorious, and the centurions were called down to decide whether they wanted him in their century. Enough time had passed where he'd thought no one was going to step forward before Reyna, of all people, accepted him. Alexi's own centurion let a member of the organization that murdered him into her century.

When everyone was dismissed, Titus stormed back to the castrum with betrayal in his heart. He'd actually liked Reyna. Most were slighted by the idea that a woman made centurion before them, but Titus had seen her fight and knew she'd deserved the title. Now he hated her. She'd have to drag Alexi out of the Underworld and kill him again in order to insult his memory more than she had.

* * *

Titus shook himself free of Jason's grasp. Fuming, he exited the building, walking in a random direction without a destination in mind.

Of course Jason would have been there. After all of the planning and waiting they'd done to set up that ambush, the same way Alexi had been killed, Jason had to show up and ruin his one shot at vengeance. Even if they managed to surround and corner the Greek barbarian again, they'd be instantly singled out by Jason as first suspects. That was their only opportunity, and now it was gone.

Outside of the castrum, Titus leaned against the wall and slumped down, holding his knees to his chest. He was rarely not angry anymore. He was angry at Marcus, Reyna, and Jason for letting the _Graecus_ walk free. He was angry at the unknown rebel who'd driven his sword through Alexi's heart. He was unjustly angry at Alexi for leaving him. More than anything else, he was angry at himself for never admitting to his friend the things he'd held inside for so long, for not telling him what he'd so desperately wanted to.

Titus knew it wouldn't have changed anything. He knew that Alexi would have just gone home to his wife and daughter all the same, but at least he would have known. Now he never could.

He cried silently as he sat alone and broken. He'd thought he'd long since run out of tears to spare, but he was wrong. The wound was just as fresh as the day Alexi's century returned to Rome without him.


	11. X

A gentle breeze filled with moisture brushed past Percy's face, giving him a brief moment of respite from the heat of the recently turned seasons, not at all aided by the heavy metal armor he wore. The breeze also served to inform him that the sea was close, which meant they could soon take a short break from their ceaseless walking.

"How often do you accompany soldiers on patrol?" Percy asked his traveling companion.

"Not very," Reyna answered.

"So why are you here then? Am I just that interesting to be around?"

"To supervise you. You're a probatio."

"This just seems a bit beneath a centurion. I'm pretty sure I've got the routes memorized by now, anyway."

"Until you're a legionnaire, expect supervision."

The Mare Nostrum came into view, and Percy was almost giddy at the sight. Just a single hand in the cool water was all he needed for his sore legs and sweat-covered skin to no longer bother him. Despite wanting to run to reach it, he continued at Reyna's pace, the pair walking in a comfortable silence.

Reyna was his friend. It wasn't something Percy had ever thought he could honestly say, but now he could, and he's glad for it. She was a unique person. More often than not, her discipline set her in a state of being distant and guarded, which was befitting a centurion. But there were too rare moments here and there where she'd open up and have a friendly demeanor, and it was at these times he could see she was actually quite soft and caring deep down. He still held out hope that one day they'd be close enough friends that this would be her default around him.

Once the sea was in sight, Percy watched the ships sail about in different directions. One clearly belonged to the legion, judging by the sails, and headed out for open waters; another was a civilian vessel with dark sails, slowly coming to the nearby port.

As soon as they were at the seaside, Percy knelt down and submerged his hand in the water. Reyna continued walking for a moment before realizing he'd stopped.

"What are you doing?" she said.

Percy didn't answer her, choosing to just show her instead. The water traveled up his hand and crawled against his skin, beneath his armor, until a thin layer of water enveloped him. Then, when he felt satisfied, he let it all drop back into the sea, and he was completely dry again, now invigorated and energized enough to walk the rest of the patrol route.

"That's. . . impressive," Reyna commented.

He grinned, then turned his eyes to the sea. It was a large and quiet body, but a saddening sight. He remembered the countless times he'd knelt at its edge, swam in it, and begged for a response; he never got one.

"Who's your godly parent?" he asked after a brief silence.

She hesitated, seeming to not have expected the question. "Bellona."

"Bellona? I don't know that name."

"I suppose you'd know her as Enyo."

"Ah. Goddess of war. That explains quite a bit, actually." He paused and then asked, "Have you ever heard from her?"

"I've met her once," said Reyna. "When I was very young. It was after. . . She found me when I was alone and led me to Lupa, who raised and trained me for a few years before sending me off to find my path. That's when I joined the legion."

"Lupa," Percy said, recognition in his tone. "I remember that tale. Romulus and Remus, wasn't it?"

"Yes. She raised me, same as them, when I had no one and helped me become who I am today. She did the same for Jason, but he'd left before I first met her."

"What else did your mother say to you?"

"A lot of things. I don't remember most of them. She said she cared about me and saw a bright future and that she was sorry she wouldn't be able to speak with me again. That was the last time I saw her, but sometimes I'll pray and get a small sign in response. I know she still watches over me."

Percy tried his best not to let his jealousy show. Not only did her mother acknowledge she existed, but she'd actually met her _and_ another goddess. Was he doing something wrong that warranted being ignored by his father, or did Poseidon just simply not care in the slightest about him?

"I don't even know for a certainty that Poseidon is my father," Percy said after a bit. "I've never gotten so much as a ripple in the water from him. I had to discover and master my abilities on my own. The more control I got over them, the more apparent it became that I was his son, but for all I know, my father could just be some other sea god."

Percy looked at Reyna, who was eyeing him with sympathy. Someone ran past them just as he was about to suggest getting back to patrolling the streets. He glanced at the fleeing person for a moment before opening his mouth again, but closed it when he saw more people running.

Reyna appeared to notice it too. They both turned and looked at the source of the commotion, seeing a handful of armed men at the port. Reyna drew her gladius and ran toward them, and Percy wasn't far behind.

They charged toward the armed men as civilians fled from them, some clutching wounds. On the port were a handful of lightly-armored men wielding swords and spears, some of which were loading stolen cargo onto a trireme with dark sails — pirates.

Percy hadn't thought that he'd be fighting pirates today, but feeling refreshed, he was more than ready to take them on. Two paired up against him, and he flourished his sword tauntingly. He saw with a glance the rest of the armed men taking on Reyna and the remaining pirates continuing to load their loot.

Both of his opponents struck at once, and Percy jumped back, causing their swords to bounce off each other. Percy took advantage of their fumble and charged forward with a thrust. The strike bounced off the pirate's armor, and Percy withdrew his blade, ready to attack again. The first pirate struck, and Percy parried the blow. The second took the opportunity to strike high while Percy's own blade was low, so he was forced to block the attack with his armored forearm. With the first pirate's sword pressed against his own and the second's held against his vambrace, Percy kicked the second pirate in the torso, throwing him to his back. Percy withdrew his sword and struck again and again. Within seconds, the pirate was disarmed, Percy threw his fist into his face, and the criminal fell to the ground. Percy turned his attention to his other opponent, who was back on his feet and met their blades.

It'd been a couple months since Percy joined the legion, and he'd improved immensely. With Jason helping him learn how to fight in armor, it didn't take long for him to get back into the groove of things. It turned out fighting with armor wasn't so different as without it. The only thing he'd really needed to do to call himself skilled again was to learn new moves and techniques that took advantage of the protection without overexerting himself. If he'd tried his old fighting patterns, he'd succumb to exhaustion very quickly. With the new muscle memory down, he was almost as capable as before, though he still had a few areas that could use some improvement.

Before long, his other opponent was down and disarmed as well, and Percy moved to help Reyna but stopped in his tracks, watching her in awe. She'd already taken out two of the pirates and was still locked in battle with three more. She'd actually taken one of the pirate's swords and used it against them, dual-wielding against her opponents. Every strike a pirate made was met with one of her weapons. Despite it being three against one, Reyna clearly had the upper hand, spinning and moving with far more grace than should have been possible with what she was wearing. She disarmed one pirate, blocked the other two's attacks one right after the other, and countered with her own swings. Before he knew it, all of the armed pirates were defeated, and the ones who'd been hauling stolen cargo surrendered.

Reyna walked over to Percy and smirked at him. He hurriedly tried to pick his jaw up off the ground and put on a laid back expression, but she'd already seen the dumb look on his face.

"Collect their weapons and bind the criminals, probatio," she said to him. "Watch them while I send for more men to escort them back to the holding cells."

With that, she left, leaving Percy with the realization of just how scary his centurion actually was. After spending only a second watching her walk away, he began to search for rope while keeping his eyes on the conscious pirates.

* * *

Sitting atop the wall of the castrum in the dead of night, Percy nursed a bottle of mediocre wine he'd bought with the last coins he had left from his time as a mercenary. He watched out over the quiet city, trying to concentrate on the warm feeling the alcohol gave him rather than the news he'd received earlier that day.

Across the Roman republic existed many castra built to house soldiers and stand as pivotal strongholds that warded off enemies. Everywhere around where a Roman castrum stood was where enemies could not venture, meaning it all belonged to the republic, and no one could contest that fact. Some castra were smaller than others, and some not as well defended, but they all stood firm as symbols of power.

Not even half a day's ride away from Neapoli stood a more prominent castrum housing the first two cohorts from another legion, built right next to the coast. It had significant strategic advantages in location and design. This was the one that the rebellion had had its sights on and that Legatus Marcus had warned about a potential attack upon receiving Percy's information.

In between Rome and Neapoli was a much less important castrum housing only the eighth cohort from the same legion. Earlier that day, Marcus received a messenger from the other legion's Legatus, informing him that the castrum was now home to the Greek rebellion after having been taken by surprise. A handful of the legionnaires managed to escape when it was clear the battle was lost, but the rest had been taken captive, the centurions and optios included. It was unknown how many deaths had occurred, but the ones that escaped claimed to have seen some of their comrades fall.

Percy took another swig from his bottle and barely turned when he heard footsteps coming from his right. Reyna was approaching him cautiously from one of the watchtowers.

"Are you drinking on the job?" she said, but without any authority in her voice.

He just shrugged as she gingerly took a seat next to him.

"I'm not going to choose, you know," Percy said after a short silence.

Reyna frowned at him. "What?"

"Rome or Greece. I feel like being here everything I do is telling me to choose between one or the other, but I won't. Greece has been hurt, and I'm going to do everything I can to make it right, but I'm still going to stay loyal to Rome because that's what I promised I'd do."

Reyna was silent for a moment. "The rebellion —"

"Needs to be stopped," he interrupted. "What they're doing is wrong and needs to end, but day by day it's getting clearer to me that a peaceful resolution might not be possible."

"We'll need to take action eventually," she said. "And now that Marcus knows how big a threat they are, it won't be my century he sends to deal with them. More than likely, it'll be one that won't take many prisoners."

He took another sip of wine and then sighed. "I'd thought that joining the legion meant I'd be able to do something — to fix things. But I still feel just as powerless as the day I left the rebellion."

"Even the rank of centurion isn't enough to fix all the things you want to fix," she said sadly.

Percy looked at her and saw her in a strange light. Her helmet was off, letting her braided hair rest freely against her back. Her eyes were fixed on the night sky, and her expression was soft, her face illuminated by the moon's light. She looked. . . cute. That shouldn't be possible for a heavily armored officer of the Roman legion that he was very intimidated by, but somehow it was.

"Go get some sleep, Percy," she said after a silence.

"I haven't finished my watch yet," he said.

"It's fine. You need the rest."

He was hesitant to leave her alone, but didn't want to disobey a direct order. He got to his feet, barely keeping his balance, and walked along the wall to the watchtower where he'd find a ladder leading down.

* * *

Percy and Jason walked side by side to the main building where all of the officers' private quarters were, which he now knew to be called a praetorium. They entered, passing by a few centurions, before they arrived at Reyna's door, which Jason immediately knocked on.

Soon the door opened, and Reyna appeared wearing her usual armor. She stepped aside, allowing Jason to stride into the room. Percy hesitated for a moment before following him while Reyna closed the door behind them.

It was a decent sized chamber, about three times the size of his cell. It had two windows on the far wall, which allowed the midday light to illuminate the interior. Shoved off to the corner was a very comfortable looking bed and a table next to it, which had a candle and a few books on top of it. Right beneath one of the windows was a desk with a few stacks of papyrus sheets and scrolls neatly organized on top of it accompanied by an unlit candle.

The main bulk of the room was taken up by a large, rectangular table similar to the one Luke had in the rebellion's strategy tent. On top of it were a handful of maps and wooden figures placed on top of them. The three of them moved to stand around this table.

"Legatus Gallio has arrived in Rome," said Reyna.

"Who is that?" Percy asked.

"He leads the legion centered around Capua and Neapoli," said Jason. "He was in charge of the castrum that was taken."

"Oh."

"Marcus and Gallio have begun discussing plans about stopping the rebellion," said Reyna. "Gallio's attempts to retake the castrum have failed, and they're discussing a coordinated assault."

"You mean a siege," said Percy.

"It seems likely," she agreed.

Percy took a moment to think. The rebellion consisted entirely of demigods, but even they would have a difficult time dealing with a siege. If Rome went at it full force, it was likely none of them would survive.

"Why are you telling me this?" Percy asked. "Why am I here? I'm just a probatio."

"Your history makes you valuable," said Jason. "You're not the only one who wants this to end without further bloodshed."

"So, what's the plan, then?"

"You're the only one who can hope to treat with them," said Reyna. "We want you to try and convince the rebellion to meet and discuss a surrender before any battle can take place."

"Marcus will never allow that."

"He might," Jason disagreed. "He's a difficult man, but if you speak to him while Gallio's there, he'll have a harder time refusing."

"Even if they let me go, there's little chance Luke will agree to meet. He hates Rome with a passion, and we'd have to offer a lot to get him to stand down."

"We have to try," said Reyna. "There's no other option."

Percy thought for a moment. It was a good plan: send Percy to discuss a negotiation, get the rebellion to surrender, and return the Greeks' rights as a peace offering. It was too bad that it relied on multiple stubborn people going against their natures to succeed. Reyna was right, though. If there was even a chance, he had to try.

"Okay," he said.

She smiled. "Good. Get back to your duties, and Jason will fetch you when the legati are together."

* * *

The day was almost done when Jason finally pointed out the two legati walking side by side through the castrum, talking quietly. Percy gave his cousin a nod before hurrying up to them. Once the officers saw him coming, they stopped and eyed him curiously, stopping their discussion.

"Legati," Percy greeted nervously in Latin, his skill with the language having greatly improved with Reyna's and Jason's help.

"Probatio," said Marcus flatly.

"Who is this?" Gallio asked.

"This is the Greek," said Marcus.

"Ah. Your friends have been causing me quite a bit of grief."

"There's a reason I'm here and not there, sir," said Percy.

"Hmm. Do you trust him, Marcus?"

"Of course not," Marcus scoffed. But he's valuable and skilled, and hasn't betrayed us _yet_. Say what you came here to say, probatio, before wasting more of our time."

Percy took a second to decide how he wanted to go about it. "I've heard you're planning a full assault against the rebellion."

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"You should. You've seen what I'm capable of, and I'm just one demigod. You're going to attack a fortified base filled with them. Granted, if you send enough men and use siege weapons, you can assuredly win, but it'll cost us a lot of lives."

"And it'll cost them theirs, too," said Gallio. "We're not hurting for soldiers. I say it's worth it."

"Not when we can still come to a peaceful resolution."

"Peace," Marcus spat. "After all the lives they've taken?"

"I was one of them. I know why they fight and what could get them to stop."

"Then please enlighten us," said Gallio.

"After Rome conquered Greece, you filled our streets with soldiers and forced us to worship your gods instead of ours. You're trying to turn Greeks into Romans, and that's why they rebel. If you give us back what you took from us, they'll have no reason to fight anymore."

"You speak like you're still one of them."

"I'm still a Greek. Just because I left the rebellion and serve Rome now doesn't change that."

"Are you forgetting we went to war to get those city-states under our rule?" Marcus asked. "We took them by right of conquest, and now you're asking to release them so we don't have to take a single castrum."

"That's not what I'm asking," said Percy. "If you want the Greek city-states to accept themselves as part of the republic, then you need to accommodate its citizens. Let them have their culture and rights, and you'll face no more resistance."

"That sounds doable," said Gallio. "It was rather stupid to try and enforce who they worship in the first place. We could probably let them call the gods whatever they want, but what we can and can't promise is pointless without a treaty."

"Send me as an envoy," said Percy. "They know me. I betrayed them, but I can still convince them to meet with you. I believe they'll surrender if you give Greece back what was taken from it."

"No," Gallio said bluntly.

"Now hold on a second," said Marcus.

Gallio turned to the other legatus with a confused look on his face. "You don't mean to trust him with this? It's too risky. What's to say he won't just stay with them and help defend against our attack?"

"All I ever hoped to achieve in the rebellion is what you're saying you can promise them," said Percy.

"First of all," Marcus said, facing Percy. "We haven't said that yet. We haven't got the authority to promise all that. Second, he doesn't have to go alone. If you accompany him while he speaks to the rebel leader, I don't see how he could get the chance to stab us in the back."

Percy was surprised. Marcus was actually the one taking his side.

"I suppose it's possible," Gallio admitted. "It's still a rather precarious situation."

"If he tries anything, just kill him. Little harm can come from trying for peace."

Gallio looked deep in thought. "None of this will matter if we don't get permission for the peace offering. We should speak with the consuls about this before making a decision."

"Agreed. You're dismissed, probatio. We'll summon you within a couple of days."

"Thank you, Legatus," said Percy.

"Don't thank me yet. If you try anything, you won't live to regret it."

Percy nodded and walked away, feeling quite happy, although still very anxious.


	12. XI

Marcus thrust a scroll into Percy's hands the second Percy entered his office.

"What's this?" the demigod asked.

"Give it to your centurion," Marcus grumbled, already lowering himself into his chair and began unfurling a book. "You leave on the morrow."

"So I'm cleared to negotiate with the rebels, then?"

"Yes. Find Legatus Gallio before sunrise, and don't keep him waiting. Now get out of my office."

Percy took his leave at that while resisting the urge to smile, eager to leave the presence of the man he detested. If everything went right, then it would all be over soon. The demigods would no longer be at war with Rome, and the Greeks would have everything they'd lost returned to them. But it was still just one obstacle bypassed, and the biggest was yet to come.

Briefly forgetting what he was supposed to be doing, he deviated from his path out of the building and found his way instead to Reyna's quarters. He knocked but received no answer. Percy was about to start looking elsewhere for his centurion when he heard footsteps behind him.

Reyna was approaching him, a curious look on her face. "Did you need something?

"Uh, yeah." Percy held up the scroll. "Marcus wanted me to give this to you."

She took it from him and immediately broke the seal. Her eyes quickly scanned the document before she looked at him with a barely noticeable smile on her face. "Come inside."

Surprised, his nod was delayed, then followed her into her chambers. "What does it say?"

"Nothing Marcus no doubt already told you." Reyna shut the door behind them. "It's just a formality. This is good news, though. We're on our way back to peace."

"Don't get excited. I've known Luke for a long time. He's just as stubborn as Marcus, if not more so. They'd probably get along, actually, if they were on the same side. But I'm not confident what we're offering will be enough to satisfy him."

"What of the other demigods? The ones you consider family? Will they stand down?"

Percy scratched the back of his head. He'd honestly never thought about that. "I would like to think they would."

"Then what can a stubborn leader do without his army?"

"You make a good point," he admitted, suddenly reassured, if only slightly.

The two looked at each other, and he smiled, but it soon fell from his face.

"Something is still bothering you," said Reyna.

He saw genuine concern on her face, and looked away from her. He wasn't sure if it was appropriate to talk to her about it, but eventually he sighed and said what was on his mind. "_She's_ going to be there."

Reyna only needed a second to understand. "Annabeth?"

"I don't know how I'll react when I see her," he said honestly. "When she ended our betrothal, I thought just thinking her name would make me sad or angry, but lately, all it makes me feel is empty. I'm not sad that we're not together anymore, and I feel guilty about that."

His eyes still refused to look at her, worried that this was an inappropriate topic to discuss with her.

"Why should you?" said Reyna.

Percy met her eyes. He saw hesitance, as if she wanted to say more but was stopping herself.

"I don't know." He leaned back against the nearest wall, his head thunking against it while he stared at the ceiling. "I remember what it's like to be in love with her, and I _think_ I still am, but it's like I'm seeing someone else's memories." He paused. "The truth is, things weren't great between us even before I betrayed the rebellion. I'd thought it was because she was becoming a different person, but now I realize she's the same as she's always been. The only thing that changed was me finally accepting. . . that it was never going to work between us because she was always in love with Luke."

There was a silence. Reyna looked shocked, but Percy was equally surprised by the words that came out of his mouth. In his heart, he'd always known it was the case, but he never let that thought reach the surface for fear of what it would cost him. Now that Annabeth was gone from his life, what harm could acknowledging the fact do to him now?

"I'm sorry," Reyna said at last.

"Don't be. I. . . some people just aren't meant for each other. I thought we were, but that was just a lie I kept telling myself all these years." He knew Annabeth had loved him too and probably _wanted _to love him more than Luke, but she never would. Perhaps she'd been lying to herself about the situation as much as Percy had, and Percy betraying the rebellion was all it took to make them both see clearly.

Reyna continued looking at him with the softest expression he'd ever seen on her face, and she almost looked vulnerable. Then he looked into her eyes and saw a familiar warmth, a familiar wanting. Her mouth twitched momentarily like she was about to say something, but decided not to.

"What are you and Jason?" Percy asked quietly, his eyes on hers. "I never asked."

"What do you mean?"

"You seem close."

"No closer than siblings," she said, a bit quickly.

"Oh."

"When we first met, I thought something might have eventually happened," she admitted. "But I soon realized neither of us wanted to be more than friends. He's promised to marry a woman he's never met, regardless."

Just then, he realized his feet had carried him within arm's reach of her. He felt like he was intruding on her personal space, but her eyes told him she was okay with it. She leaned forward only slightly, then stopped; she wore a look of uncertainty. They didn't break eye contact, and an unspoken truth passed between them. He knew what she wanted him to do, and seeing a pleading, almost hungry look in her eyes, he couldn't deny it to her. He gently placed his hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't shove him back and draw her sword on him, he closed the distance. Then their lips met.

It was awkward at first, with her tensing her lips more than she needed to until she sunk into it, relaxing them a bit. Reyna's surprisingly soft hand raised to rest itself on his cheek, and for several seconds, Percy allowed himself to get lost in the moment.

For longer than he'd thought, his mind didn't drift to the only other person he'd ever kissed. When it finally did, he pulled away abruptly and put a sizeable distance between them. He looked around, anywhere but at her. Why did he do that?

"I'm sorry," Reyna said for some reason with a red tinge to her cheeks.

The taste of her lips lingered on his. He could tell she'd wanted him to do that, but he didn't know that _he'd_ wanted himself to do that. She was his centurion, and up until a minute ago, he was still thinking about Annabeth.

"I, uh. . ." said Percy, entirely unsure of what to say or what to feel.

"That was nice," Reyna said, cheeks going redder.

He nodded in agreement, although guilt gripped at his heart. Percy hadn't once thought of her in that way, and now here he was, kissing her. Had he done it because he was attracted to her, or because he was feeling sad about Annabeth?

"I think we should talk about this when I get back," he said to break the awkward silence, trying to give a reassuring smile. Suddenly he was delighted to be leaving the next day; there'd be plenty of time to think.

For a moment, Reyna just stared at him, any appearance of vulnerability disappearing as she attempted to gain back a semblance of professionalism. "That's acceptable."

"Okay," he said awkwardly. "When I get back." He backed away slowly, watching her carefully to make sure he wasn't doing something wrong, then left while feeling like an idiot.

* * *

When Percy awoke, Jason was outside his cell door, fitting a key into the lock. The optio had actually stopped bothering to lock the cell at night, but made an exception this time in case Marcus decided to check on the day Percy was leaving. With the door open, Jason made to walk away, but Percy stopped him.

"Wait," he said.

Jason stopped and turned.

"You're betrothed, right?" Percy asked.

"Yeah." Jason raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I want to know the story."

"There's not a whole lot to it, really," he said after a pause. "After training with Lupa, I tried to join the legion, but they recognized my surname. My mother is married to the legatus who ran the legion before Marcus, and they wouldn't let me enlist unless I agreed to marry and carry on the family line. And to make sure I wind up with a 'suitable match', she insists on picking the bride." There was little enthusiasm in his voice.

"When's the wedding?"

"About a year and a half."

Percy nodded absentmindedly. "You ever think about marrying anyone else?"

Jason looked at him curiously for a moment before seeming to come to some kind of conclusion. "You mean Reyna."

"I didn't say that."

"Look, Reyna's my best friend — always will be. You want to go after her, go ahead. I'd warn you about hurting her, but she makes better threats than I do."

"I don't even. . . I don't know. Two days ago, I wasn't even thinking about this, and now I'm finding out that she might be interested in me."

If Jason was surprised at that, he didn't show it. "Whatever you're feeling, you've got some time to figure it out. Now you'd better not keep Gallio waiting."

"Right," Percy said as he got up. He started putting on his armor while Jason walked away.

* * *

About an hour later, Percy was riding on horseback alongside Legatus Gallio and the men he'd brought from his first cohort. Staying mostly silent throughout the journey, Percy kept his eyes forward while his mind continued to think over the conversation he'd soon be having with Luke.

After a full day of traveling, Gallio called a halt, and the party stopped for their third break that day, this time setting up camp for the night. Percy hopped off his horse, his legs stiff and sore from the long ride, and tied his horse's lead to a tree by the others. He gave the horse an apple he'd been allowed to take from the carriage, and the steed happily munched on it.

"_Thank you,_" it said as Percy gave it a soft stroke through its mane.

Horses weren't particularly intelligent animals, so being able to communicate with them wasn't one of Percy's most useful gifts, but it was one he was glad to have. He was quite fond of the animals. Although they had little more to say than mere expressions of their emotions, he enjoyed having that small connection with the creatures his father had created.

Gallio ordered Percy to do several labors to help set up the camp before finally letting him take a moment to rest. Exhausted and tired, Percy found a rock at the edge of the sire to sit on while he ate his rations and drank from his canteen. He'd just barely begun to let his mind wander when he saw movement in the trees.

He almost didn't think anything of it at first, but grew suspicious the second time he heard the leaves rustle. Whatever was out there was too large to ignore. It could be a boar or a bear, or worse yet, it could be a monster.

Quietly, Percy got to his feet and moved toward the disturbance, his hand resting on the handle of his sword. While making as little noise as possible, he passed through the foliage as he heard another sound. At the same time, a figure darted behind a tree that, in the dark, Percy could barely make out to be humanoid.

"Who's there?" he called out, still not drawing his sword just yet. When he got no answer, he approached the tree the stranger hid behind, ready to act in an instant if they made any sudden movements. However, when Percy peeked around it to where they should have been crouching, he saw nothing. He searched around fruitlessly for several minutes before having to concede that they'd escaped.

* * *

After learning of the potential scout that Percy had "allowed to get away," Gallio wanted to move their campsite immediately, but decided against that idea at the general disapproval from his men. Instead, he decided to double the number of soldiers taking watch at a time as well as making Percy take two shifts in a row before allowing him to switch out and sleep.

Come morning, Gallio changed their route to one that took them out of their way by several hours, all to avoid the possibility of walking into an ambush. Finally, after a very tiring journey, Percy dismounted his horse in a temporary encampment, constructed just out of arrow range from the rebel's walled castrum. The sun wasn't far from setting.

Gallio's entire first cohort and the soldiers from the eighth cohort had set up the camp, which consisted of many tents and piles of wood surrounded by a trench. Percy saw a couple hundred men working dutifully — either training, standing watch, or cutting lumber. If he had to guess, he'd say they were building siege weapons. Despite his nerves, he had a sudden inclination to get the negotiation over with even faster.

Once his horse was tied up with the rest, Percy tried to figure out where the legatus had gone. After a bit of searching, he found Gallio talking with a man wearing centurion's armor, but was adorned by a red cape over one shoulder, similar to Gallio's purple one. Making a guess, Percy assumed the man was Gallio's Primus Pilus, the second most powerful man in his legion.

As Percy approached, Gallio took only a glance at him as he continued whatever he was saying. He stopped before them and waited patiently for them to finish their conversation, which was about the plan Percy and the two Legati had come up with. Finally, their talking ceased, and the officers turned to address him.

"Sky's getting too dark," said Gallio. "We'll wait for the morning, and then we'll see how silver your tongue is."

"Yes, sir," Percy said dutifully. Gallio barked an order at him, and he begrudgingly set off to complete the menial task, both disappointed and pleased at the same time that another night would pass before he had to see his old friends again.


	13. XII

Percy walked groggily through the makeshift castrum, the sun slowly getting higher in the sky while a cool breeze bit at his skin. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, the uncomfortable ground not doing any favors in his struggle to fall into a peaceful slumber. For a moment, he just watched a pigeon fly through the sky, wanting to delay what came next as much as he could.

"_Graecus_," a voice said, bringing Percy to a halt.

Percy turned to see the red-cloaked man Gallio had spoken with yesterday.

"The legatus has summoned you," said the man, motioning for Percy to follow.

Percy had already been searching for Gallio, so he was grateful to no longer have to wander. With a nod, he followed the officer to a large tent almost identical to the one Luke often occupied in the rebel camps. Standing behind a table, Gallio was waiting patiently and motioned for the two to enter. The red-caped Primus Pilus took his place at Gallio's side, and Percy stood opposite them.

"We received this in the night," said Gallio as he tossed an arrow through the air.

Percy caught it effortlessly and saw a tiny scroll wrapped around the shaft near the arrow tip. He unrolled it and saw words he didn't understand. "What does it say?" he asked sheepishly, placing the arrow onto the table. Despite having greatly improved in his ability to speak Latin, Percy hadn't even begun to learn to read or write in the language.

After a scoff, Gallio answered. "'Send the traitor alone, else arrows will rain down upon all who approach.'"

Percy hid his surprise, and his thoughts went back to the suspicious entity he hadn't been able to catch on the journey here. It now seemed a fair assumption that it had been a scout, who'd seen Percy in legionnaire's armor.

"What are we going to do, then?" Percy asked.

"Heed their warning," Gallio answered. "We'll send you alone, and you'll convince them to sign a truce until we can meet to discuss an end to this conflict."

"You trust me to do that?"

"I trust you'll heed _my _warning. Should you not return, the siege will begin as soon as our weapons are built, and no one within the walls will be spared. The rebellion will be crushed, and any hopes of peace meetings will be forgotten. Regardless of where your loyalties lie, I believe it to be in your better interest to follow through with the original plan."

"I'm not."

"We'll see." After that, Gallio held him for way longer than was necessary, quizzing Percy on everything he was allowed to say during the negotiation. After he was convinced Percy had enough information to not screw it up, he sent the demigod away with a soldier.

"What's this for?" Percy asked, having been led to the edge of the encampment and handed a shield

"In case you need it," the soldier answered.

Percy shrugged, then strapped the item to his left forearm. He'd never been a fan of shields. They were big and bulky, and that prevented him from using both hands to wield his sword, which was more than capable of blocking weapon strikes on its own. He would be grateful to have it, however, should he be fired upon.

With a hand gesture from Gallio, signaling him to go, Percy stepped onto the bridge. He crossed over to the stretch of land leading to where his old allies were stationed. He tried his best not to think about the possibility of them attempting to kill him on sight.

Between the rebels' walled castrum and Rome's recently temporary encampment existed nothing but grass, the only thing guarding one against the other being distance. The trek was rather long and quiet, with the only sound being an occasional chirp from a bird soaring overhead. Slowly but surely, the castrum came closer into view.

Its walls stood about two-thirds the height of the one his century was garrisoned in back in Rome and had half the width. Instead of being surrounded by a trench, like the camp behind him, the structure stood upon a terraced landscape, resembling a massive staircase made of dirt. He'd never felt so intimidated by a structure before.

After Percy finally traversed what had felt like an endless sea of grass, he finally stood at the base of the stolen castrum — that fact that he'd yet to be pelted with arrows was a good sign. Right in the center of the giant dirt steps was a slope leading directly to the castrum's barred gate, behind which a handful of figures stood waiting. Cautiously, Percy ascended the ramp until he stopped barely two arms' lengths away from Luke, Annabeth, Ethan, and Alabaster. On top of the wall were a couple of archers, thankfully with no arrows nocked. Behind the group of four was a small audience of demigods that stood only close enough to hear what was about to be said.

"Luke, Annabeth," Percy greeted, ignoring the other two.

"Traitor," Luke spat in return, loathing dripping from his voice.

Percy flinched. He glanced at Annabeth, who's expression was blank, and then at the other two, who wore both glaring.

"I've been sent to —" Percy started before being cut off by Luke.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

Percy bit his tongue. "Ending a war."

"By joining up with the enemy?"

"By getting everything we wanted through peace instead of bloodshed."

"You stabbed us in the back. For _them_. Have you forgotten what they did to Daedalus?"

"I'll _never _forget what happened to Daedalus."

"Good. So you're aware of how badly you're insulting his memory."

Percy sighed, doing his best to keep his calm. "I haven't come here to fight."

"Then why _are_ you here?"

"To negotiate."

"Negotiate? You want us to surrender? You're even dumber than I remember."

"Rome is willing to offer amnesty and meet our demands."

"Our? You're not one of us anymore. You're a Roman now."

"Legatus Marcus and Legatus Gallio want to meet with you in a fortnight to discuss the terms of a treaty," Percy continued, ignoring the comment. "When it's done, you're all free to go home and live freely. You'll be allowed to worship the gods again, instead of theirs."

"That's what you want?" Ethan cut in. "For us to go home and forget everything they did to us? To forget what _you_ did to us?"

"Stand down," Luke ordered his soldier before turning back to Percy. "Rome has gone far and beyond the point where they can just give back what they took. I won't rest until you all pay for your crimes."

"Luke!" Percy said firmly. "What are you hoping to accomplish here? You know their numbers. If you refuse to cooperate, they'll come at you full force, and none of you will survive to see the better future Greece can have starting here and now. Are you going to die for nothing? Are you going to lead the demigods to their deaths out of spite? Are you even going to bother asking what _they_ want before turning down our offer?"

Luke didn't respond right away, so Percy took the opportunity to press on. "I offer a truce. Cease all hostilities, and Rome will do the same. In a fortnight, your officers and Rome's will meet to discuss terms of peace.

"You mean you'll lure us out of our safety so you can slaughter us in the open."

"You honestly think I'd do that?" Percy said quietly, hurt. "Annabeth?"

She met his eyes for the first time since he left the rebellion, and he gave her a pleading look.

"Don't talk to her!" Luke warned, putting his arm in front of Percy's former lover. "And I don't know what you'd do anymore."

Percy thought for a moment, then said, resigned, "Accept the truce, or else you'll have to deal with _me _before Rome can get a chance to."

"You're threatening us?"

"I'm threatening you, Luke." He noticed Annabeth's eyes flaring, but ignored her. "Meet with Legatus Marcus and Legatus Gallio in two weeks' time. During the negotiations, Rome will not initiate any hostilities or try to betray you. I swear this upon the River Styx." A crack of thunder shook the sky.

Luke widened, but before he could say anything, Alabaster approached him and whispered something in his ear. Luke gave the man a nod and then looked Percy in the eyes. After a tense quiet that endured for several seconds, he spoke. "I accept your truce and agree to meet on the given date."

It was Percy's turn to be surprised. He felt elated, despite his worry about what Alabaster had said. "Thank you. You won't regret this."

"No," Luke agreed. "I don't think I will." He turned and walked away from the gate, and the others followed, Annabeth not even giving him a second glance.

Percy found himself unbothered by this. He thought that seeing her might be painful, but as he turned his back on the castrum with relief flooding through his body, his thoughts drifted to Reyna.

* * *

Two weeks. Just two more weeks, and this would all be over. Try as he might, Percy couldn't help but be hopeful as he rode back to Rome with his traveling companion. Luke was a stubborn man and always would be, but surely even he could see this would be beneficial for everyone, right?

"So, uh, what's your name?" he said.

"Aulus," the Primus Pilus answered, but said no more than that.

Percy sighed. He was struggling to find a topic of discussion, regrettably accepting that the entire journey might persist in silence.

Upon Percy's return with good news, Gallio gave his most trusted centurion, Aulus, a message to deliver back to Rome, and ordered Percy to accompany him. Although he would have very much liked a longer break before hitting the road again, Percy was in no position to disobey a direct order. And so they'd loaded their horses' saddlebags and departed without further delay.

The sky was just beginning to darken when his horse said something alarming.

"_I smell something_," it communicated to him. "_Evil._"

Percy glanced over at Aulus and noticed his horse was distressed as well. He looked around, straining his ears and eyes for anything that might be out of place.

"_It's getting close_," his horse said with a panicked voice.

Percy still saw nothing, but was starting to get nervous himself. "Halt," he said while pulling on the reins of his horse. It came to a stop, shuffling its hooves in agitation. A few seconds later, Aulus steered his steed to face Percy, a look of annoyance on his face. "What?"

"Something's coming," said Percy as he slid off of horseback.

Reluctantly, Aulus did the same but seemed to notice the horses' fear and realized something was amiss. Suddenly, a screech tore through the sky, and the horses took off at a run, leaving the two soldiers behind. A figure appeared from the clouds, and then two more followed it. They were great beasts, larger than the horses, with wingspans twice their body lengths. Two more screeches assaulted their ears as the trio shot through the air, directly toward them.

"What are those?" Aulus asked with fear in his voice as he drew his shield and spear from his back.

Percy drew his sword but couldn't answer just yet. Once they were close enough, he could discern the head of an eagle on the body of a lion, its two wings tucked back as it dived toward the ground at them, the other two following its lead. "Gryphons."

"What? Those are real?"

"Get ready," was all Percy said, as the beasts were seconds away from reaching them.

Percy eyed down gryphon number one, which seemed to have its beady red eyes trained on him. He took a defensive stance and held his sword at the ready, waiting. It came closer and closer until it was half a second away from tearing its talons through Percy's face, but the demigod lunged to the side and swung his sword in a wide arc. The gryphon's talons grazed the ground, and it swooped back into the air, circling around to strike again.

The second beast looked to have crashed into Aulus's shield, but the centurion had already recovered from the blow. His monster landed and rushed at him as he stood his ground. Percy would have gone to help him if it weren't for gryphon number three, which swooped down at him a moment later, Percy just barely managing to roll out of the way.

Aulus kept his shield in front of himself as he thrust his spear forward in calculated jabs at the grounded gryphon, even landing a hit on its front leg. It screeched and stepped back out of the weapon's range, then bent its legs and looked ready to dart forward.

Percy was keeping his eye on the airborne two. They'd finished circling around and began diving toward him again. Percy carefully shifted his footing so he could still see all three monsters, placing himself between the grounded gryphon and the others. Luckily, it still had its sights on Aulus and ignored Percy completely. Percy rolled to the side before it could make its strike, and then gryphon three collided with it. They thrashed around for a moment while they struggled back to their paws. Seeing what happened, the last one spread its wings wide, slowing its descent.

The other beasts finished their tussle with a snarl at one another before number two turned its attention to Aulus, and the other one unfurled its wings. Not wanting it to take off again, Percy quickly ran forward and struck at its wing. The beast screeched and swiped its clawed foot at Percy's chest, glancing off his chest piece even though the demigod had attempted to evade the strike. Deciding never to tell Jason the armor he so detested had just saved him from a severe injury, Percy backed away as he saw gryphon number one land. He noticed a small cut on its side before it and gryphon three both advanced toward him. Percy managed a sideglance at his companion, who seemed to be faring well against his own beast, which had a few more stab wounds on its body now.

Gryphon one struck first, rearing its legs and pouncing forward with both claws. Percy rolled forward, under its guard, and managed to cut a gash into its underbelly. He attempted to cut it again, but it flapped its wings and flew several paces back, leaving Percy open to gryphon three's attack.

This one was furious. It struck again and again in quick succession, and it was all Percy could do to stay out of its reach. Finally, its fury made it do a lunge that Percy was easily able to sidestep, putting him at the beast's rear. Before it could turn around, and just as the other gryphon started to move in, Percy stabbed it through the side. He immediately removed his weapon from the screeching monster and rolled to the side, just in time to dodge gryphon one's next attack.

Percy swung his sword and cut another gash into its flank. Before it could recover, Percy struck again and again, cutting several deep wounds into its torso and legs before finishing it off with a stab through the throat. The beast bled and collapsed before finally dissipating to golden dust. The other gryphon, heavily wounded, tried to look intimidating while also backing away, blood pouring from its wing and where he'd stabbed its side. Percy took off at a run and leaped over the beasts' next swipes, then came down on it with all his force. The gryphon, impaled, let out an earsplitting screech. Before Percy could even remove his weapon from its body, the beast turned to dust as well.

Giving himself only a moment to catch his breath, he turned to the last gryphon, which was still locked in a fierce battle with Aulus, whose shield was missing a large chunk. Its damage, however, didn't compare to the beast, whose body and wings were peppered with stab wounds.

"Just — die — already!" the Primus Pilus shouted between jabs of his iron-tipped weapon.

Sneaking over to the winged creature while it was distracted, Percy sliced halfway through the back of its neck. It let out a last, barely audible squawk before succumbing to the same fate as its brethren. All that was left of it was a single large feather. Percy picked it up and handed it to the man, feeling he'd earned the trophy. A long silence ensued as they both regained their energy, and Aulus stared at him in shock.

"Monsters," Percy said finally, "are resilient creatures. But they don't fare all that well to celestial bronze." He pointed to where his sword seamlessly transitioned from iron to the aforementioned metal on one half of the blade.

"Celestial bronze?" Aulus repeated with a blank look.

Percy looked down the road in the direction where the horses had fled. Deciding he didn't want the animals to get too lost or picked off by a predator before they could find them, he started walking in that direction, motioning for his companion to follow. "It's a rare metal, a godly metal. Doesn't do anything at all to humans, but it's the best chance you have at hurting a monster. That gryphon would have died eventually from your spear, but celestial bronze gets the job done so much faster."

Aulus was silent for a moment as the two walked. "You really are a demigod then," he said quietly.

Percy just nodded while keeping his eyes and ears open for signs of their lost steeds.

After a bit, Aulus said something else. "I must have traveled this road dozens of times and never seen anything more dangerous than a boar." He paused for a second before adding, "You're a damn good fighter. I'm glad to have had you with me."

Percy kept his eyes away from him guiltily. "You shouldn't be. The only reason they attacked is because they could smell my scent."

"Your scent?"

"They're vicious creatures with noses for demigod blood," he explained. "Not just gryphons, but all monsters. They don't have much of a taste for mortal flesh, but crave demigods. It's why we stick together and away from mortals, because initially, that was all we were preparing to fight."

"You live in Rome," Aulus pointed out.

"In the heart of it," Percy agreed. "Wild creatures stay in the wilderness. As powerful as their noses are, they can't pick up a single demigod amongst so many mortals so far away."

The pair crested a small hill and could see a lot more of the terrain. They paused for a moment as they took in the sight. Aulus was the one to eventually spot the horses, chewing on grass by a cluster of trees.

Upon reaching them, Percy gently assured them that the gryphons had been defeated, and they eventually calmed down enough to let the soldiers mount them again. The pair rode off in silence until Aulus asked another question.

"How many monsters have you slain?"

Percy gave thought to the question, but couldn't provide a definitive answer. "I don't know. It's been a while since I've tried keeping count."

"That many?" the Primus Pilus said in awe.

Percy nodded solemnly. "When you have a god for a parent, it's just something you have to deal with for your entire life."

Neither of them said anything for a while after that.

* * *

There were several fortresses inside Rome, each housing one or two cohorts from Marcus's legion. Positioned right at the city entrance stood the first cohort's castrum as well as a large stable where Percy and Aulus left their horses before continuing into the heart of the Roman Republic. Their destination was the centermost castrum, which also happened to be nearest to the port. This was where the ninth and tenth cohorts were garrisoned, Reyna's century included. This also happened to be where Marcus spent most of his time, due not only to its central location but also so he could directly supervise the two worst cohorts.

Percy was more comforted by the familiar streets of Rome than he'd ever thought he'd be. Never in his life would he have thought he'd eventually feel so at home in this place, but here he was, traversing between the buildings with more knowledge than he had of Cyrene.

That thought made him wonder if he'd ever return to his place of birth again, and then if he even wanted to. He'd fled at such a young age that his memory of the city was limited. He didn't know if it'd be too painful to go back there, or whether he'd turn down the opportunity to do so should it ever present itself.

The pair passed beneath the gate, and their journey was finally at its end. Although nothing more interesting than the gryphon fight occurred during their trip, the fact that Percy had been traveling for the past four days almost ceaselessly made him glad that he could stop and rest for more than a handful of hours.

The sky was nearing darkness, which explained why the fortress was mostly empty save for a few people walking here and there. At this time of day, all training would already have been completed, and the only responsibilities soldiers had were patrol and watch. Those exempt likely went to visit their families or went to bed early in the barracks.

Aulus led the way into the praetorium and to Marcus's office. He knocked on the door, and many seconds passed before it opened, revealing the legatus himself.

"You're back," Marcus said to Percy with surprise in his voice.

"Letter from Legatus Gallio, sir," Aulus said dutifully before Percy could open his mouth.

Marcus took the scroll and unfurled it, eyes scanning over its contents. Then he lowered it, looking at Percy with thoughtful eyes and a scrunched brow. "Speak to me in the morning. You can have the guest quarters," he said to Aulus before turning back to Percy. "And you can stay in your cell."

Without saying any more than that, he closed the door on them. Aulus gave Percy an incredulous look, and Percy just shrugged. Departing with a wave, Percy turned and left the building. He thought about going to Reyna's chambers, but decided it best not to disturb her at this hour. Plus, he was tired, and his mind was on his cot, which would feel like a cloud compared to the ground he'd been sleeping on recently.

His job was done. He'd successfully gotten Luke to agree to a truce. In two weeks, this would all hopefully be over. But for now, he was going to get some well-earned sleep. Figuring out what to do about that kiss with Reyna could wait until the morning.


	14. XIII

Percy knocked on Marcus's door, and it slid open slightly, having not been latched. After some silence, he knocked again and pushed it open further. Quickly scanning the room, his eyes glanced over a desk filled with papers, an open window, an empty birdcage, and a comfortable looking bed before coming to the conclusion that Marcus wasn't there.

Unsure about where to go now, he looked in the direction of Reyna's quarters for only a moment before leaving the building. It took a bit of searching, but he finally spotted the legatus by the front gate, speaking to Aulus. Percy's feet quickly carried him over to the two men, easily identified by their capes. The Primus Pilus was about to leave, but then he noticed Percy's approach.

"Probatio," he greeted. It was a far cry better than the condescending "_Graecus_" he'd received from him back at the temporary castrum. "It was a pleasure traveling with you, but I must say farewell."

"You're leaving?" said Percy.

"Yes. I have my own legion to return to and a message to deliver to my legatus."

"Oh. Well, it was —"

"Yes, yes," Marcus interrupted irritably. "Save the goodbyes and pleasantries for another day. We'll be meeting again before the negotiations with the rebels."

Taking a second to confirm he'd heard him correctly, Percy said, "We?"

"Yes. _We_," Marcus said, confirming his fears. "We depart in nine days. If you thought you weren't going to be there, then maybe you are as dumb as I first took you for."

It took all of Percy's effort not to let out a groan at that moment. If this pattern continued, sooner rather than later, he'll have traveled that road as many times as Aulus has. At least he had got to stay in one place for more than a week this time. "Understood."

Marcus grunted and said, "Return to your duties, probatio," before marching off somewhere.

Aulus gave him a respectful bow and then left the castrum.

That was not at all how Percy had expected that conversation to go. Turning to look out over the castrum, his eyes lingered on the praetorium where Reyna would most likely be, before walking toward the training grounds. There he found Jason and the rest of the century going through training drills. It only took his cousin a few seconds to notice him, jogging up to meet him as soon as he did.

"You're back," he said, surprised.

"You didn't expect me to die out there, did you?" Percy jested.

"Of course not. How'd it go?"

"Good," said Percy, realizing how nice it felt to be able to honestly say that. "Luke agreed to a temporary truce until he meets with Marcus and Gallio."

"That's great news! Do you think they'll actually accept the deal, though?"

"I'm hopeful. I was one of them, so I know what they want. If I were still with them and heard Rome's offer, I'd stand down. I believe they could too."

"I think it's still better to be cautious."

"Of course I'm cautious. Luke doesn't give up easily, but in the end, the choice doesn't lie with him; it lies with those who follow him. What can he do if his army surrenders?"

"We'll see when the time comes."

"Marcus ordered me to go back there for the meeting, so I'll be ready should he try to pull anything."

"That's reassuring." Jason looked back to the soldiers at his command for a brief second. "What are you doing now?"

"Well, I've got nine days until I leave again, so I guess I'm training."

"You don't want a day to rest?"

"It's not about what I want. Marcus said to return to my duties. Besides, it'll be nice to get back to some normalcy."

"Well then, line up, probatio."

* * *

Upon being dismissed for the day, Percy enjoyed some fresh bacon from the mess hall, which he'd sorely missed while on his travels, and headed toward his cell. During the walk through the castrum, a certain centurion caught his eye. Well, he'd delayed this long enough. Fighting his instincts to rush back to the prison building before she could see him, he caught up to her before she reached the praetorium.

"Centurion," he said, drawing her attention.

"Percy," she said formally, giving him a respectful nod. "I'd heard you'd returned."

"Yep." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not really sure what to say. "It went great."

"So I've been told. You did good, probatio."

"Thanks."

"So about what happened. . ." Percy said, breaking a long silence that had grown more uncomfortable with each passing second.

"Stop," Reyna interrupted hurriedly with a pink tinge rising to her cheeks. "This can wait until tomorrow."

"Really?" he said, not sure whether to feel disappointed or relieved.

"It's been a long day. We can. . . discuss this when we're both rested."

"Yeah, okay. Sure."

"Come by my quarters in the morning."

"Will do. I mean, yes, centurion."

She gave a smirk so tiny that he might have imagined it, then turned and disappeared into the praetorium. After watching her leave for only a moment, he turned and headed back to his own "quarters".

* * *

After all the time that passed between the kiss and now, Percy hadn't put a single thought into what he'd say when he saw Reyna again. Well, that actually wasn't true. He'd _tried_ to think of something, but had continuously come up blank — and he'd continue to do so until he fell asleep. Why did this have to be so difficult? He could slay three feral gryphons without getting hurt, but couldn't figure out what words to say to a woman he'd kissed? On a side note, Reyna was a lot scarier than gryphons — having seen how she handled those pirates, Percy could attest to that.

She was pretty amazing, wasn't she? Percy once used two swords to disarm Ethan in a spar, but he couldn't imagine being able to keep up with dual-wielding for an entire fight. Reyna, on the other hand, hadn't had a single issue. He'd even say she was stronger with two swords than one. That may seem an obvious statement, but a lot of people have difficulty being proficient with just one weapon in hand. Trying to hold one in each splits your focus and strength, opening up extra vulnerabilities despite granting double the offensive power. But she'd shown no faults after picking up that second sword.

It wasn't just her melee prowess that had him suddenly drawn to her, though. If that were the case, he'd have fallen in love with Luke a long time ago. Reyna just had this impossible to dislike nature to her. She could be fierce to those she held a grudge against, but surprisingly kind to her friends. When she wasn't putting up a professional and distant mien to fit her rank, she had this air of innocence about her you'd never expect. Reyna was caring and loyal, and Percy quite simply enjoyed spending time with her.

He arrived in his lonely little cell. The prison building of the castrum had two levels: the main level was where they'd kept the pirates they'd apprehended temporarily before sending them to work off their sentences; the lower level contained Percy's cell, as well as a number of empty ones. He would most likely remain the only occupant of the lower level until something serious happened, causing the first to become overfilled.

Upon removing his armor and laying onto the somewhat comfortable cot that he'd taken for granted, Percy realized he'd solved his dilemma. He'd been worried that he kissed Reyna because he was feeling down about Annabeth. Percy hadn't wanted to consider pursuing Reyna romantically for fear that he'd be using her to get back at his lost love, but now he knew; he was over Annabeth. He'd kissed Reyna because he was actually interested in her. It just took him until now to realize that.

Despite his conundrum having seemingly been dealt with, Percy still felt guilty. It really hadn't taken as long as he'd thought it would to get over Annabeth, but here he was, just a few months later, ready to move on to someone else. But Percy supposed he couldn't live in the past forever. He's a different person now, and Annabeth had probably already taken up with Luke. It's what she'd always wanted, wasn't it? It's not like the age gap was as big of a deal now that she's a grown woman.

Perhaps Percy was still a little bitter. Not because he was still pining after her, but because he was concerned for her. Luke was slowly straying down an irredeemable path, and Percy didn't want him to drag her down with him. Regardless of whether or not he still loved her, he knew she was still a good person and didn't deserve the life Luke was forcing onto her.

Percy realized it might take a while for sleep to find him. He hoped he was wrong. He hoped that Luke could be the man he once thought he was when the time came and his army surrendered to Rome. Percy hoped Luke could stand down and be the man Annabeth believed he was, giving her the peaceful life she still deserves.

For a while, he laid there thinking, optimism and pessimism fighting for control of his heart until he finally fell asleep.

* * *

Percy wasn't sure how Reyna felt about _him_. "That was nice," was what she'd said after he kissed her, so certainly that meant she was interested in him too, right? Or maybe she _was _interested in him, but the kiss made her realize he wasn't the one for her, and that's why she wanted to wait until today to break the news to him. Regardless, he was extremely nervous.

After eating slower than he usually would and then visiting the bathhouse, Percy couldn't think of any ways to delay the potentially disastrous conversation any longer. Plus, morning would soon be over, and Reyna might grow irritated if he kept her waiting.

So finally, his legs carried his anxious self outside her chambers, where he stood for a little too long before knocking. Yesterday he'd learned from Jason that their century had today off, which explained Reyna's outfit when she opened the door. Instead of her usual centurion's armor, she wore casual clothing that looked tailored specifically for her. She'd also let her glossy black hair sprawl freely down to her neck, no longer tied into its usual braid. Matching the hair color, her eyes studied him carefully for a moment before she stepped aside, motioning for him to enter the room.

"You look good," Percy said in an attempt to break the tension.

"Thanks," she said, her cheeks reddening at the compliment. "You look nice too."

Not getting paid for being a probatio, the only clothes Percy owned was what he currently wore and an old outfit given to him by Jason. Right now, he was adorned by ordinary garments made from cheap materials. Jason had a bulkier build, which called for clothes that were a bit baggy on Percy's slightly more slender frame, so he only wore those when he had to wash his primary outfit.

So he knew his clothing wasn't doing his looks any favors, but he accepted the compliment anyway. The smile on his face faltered as seconds dragged on where neither said a word. Finally breaking the awkward silence, Percy attempted small talk.

"It's nice to not have to wear armor, huh?"

Reyna gave him a strange look. "I suppose it is freeing, in a way. Although I do feel rather vulnerable without it."

He didn't know how to reply to that, because he couldn't relate. Although he'd been getting closer to mastering armored combat, it still felt like a hindrance to him. He chose not to say that to her.

"So, about the. . . what happened," she finally said. It was strange seeing someone who's usually so stern and disciplined with such a bright blush on her cheeks, but it was cute.

"I'm sorry. What I did was inappropriate, because you're my centurion and all. I shouldn't have overstepped my bounds like that." The words spilled out of his mouth, even though they weren't the ones he wanted to say. Percy felt apologizing to be the safest option, as he liked her and didn't want to lose the friendship they'd built if she didn't feel the same as he suddenly did.

"What? No, you don't need to. . ." She trailed off, her eyes on the ground and her left hand resting on her right arm. "I wanted it to happen," she admitted.

His heart fluttered. "Really?"

"Yes. I would have. . . I would have initiated it, but I was nervous at how you'd react."

"So, we both wanted to kiss each other."

She nodded, her face now the reddest it could be.

"That's great!" He grinned, relief washing over him.

Reyna finally met his gaze, but didn't look as pleased as he was. Something was still bothering her. She said nothing, apprehension showing itself in her eyes.

"I'm over her now," Percy reassured. "I thought I wouldn't be, but when I saw her over there, I didn't feel anything. That part of my life is in the past, and now I'm here — talking to you."

A small look of relief appeared on her face, which he took to mean she believed him. "That's. . . good to hear."

The longer they stared at each other, the more relaxed her expression grew, and her mouth formed a genuine smile.

"So," said Percy. "What do you want to do now?"

"I don't know," she said, and her eyes returned to the floor. "I've never been. . . I've never been romantic with anyone before."

"Oh. We can figure it out, together. But, only if you want to try this, you and me?"

It took her a moment to nod. "Yes, of course. I'm just not really sure what to do."

"It's easy, really! We just spend time together."

"That's it?"

"Pretty much. These things are built on getting to know one another a lot better and learning to trust each other more than anyone else."

"Hmm," Reyna uttered thoughtfully.

"In fact," Percy said abruptly, "I have an idea! Will you be free in a few hours?"

"I'm free all day." Her brow furrowed. "What —?"

"You'll see." He started turning towards the door.

"Wait!"

He turned back to face her again and saw her hesitate before she suddenly moved forward and kissed him. He froze, then a moment later, returned the gesture. All too soon, she pulled away and gave an embarrassed smirk at his dumbstruck face. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure, and once he did, he grinned one last time before resting his hand on the door handle. "I'll be back in a few hours." With that, he left.

* * *

As promised, Percy knocked on Reyna's door again a short while later. Unfortunately, he heard no response. After a few more attempts, he accepted that she wasn't there and left the praetorium. Once outside, it didn't take him long to find her speaking with another centurion near the barracks. By the time he was in front of her, the conversation had ended, and the other centurion was walking away.

"Sorry," Reyna said to him. "There was a scheduling conflict I had to resolve. I hope I didn't make you search for too long."

"Not at all," Percy assured.

"So, what was your idea?"

"I'll show you," he answered vaguely and then courteously extended his arm out to her with a smile. It faltered as she looked at his arm and bit her tongue. Then she glanced around, as if to check no one saw what was happening. He dropped his arm back to his side, dismayed.

"I'm sorry," said Reyna, quickly putting on an apologetic smile. "It's just. . . I think we should keep up platonic appearances in public."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I. . . have a difficult enough time earning respect as a centurion just because I'm a woman. And with you being a male subordinate. . ."

"Oh! No, I get it. I should be the one apologizing. I hadn't even considered that."

"It's fine. Just lead the way."

Doing so, the two began to walk in silence until they were well out of range of the castrum.

"I have to ask," he said at last. "How long have you been interested in me?"

"Well," she said, taking a moment to form her answer. "If I'm being honest, my admiration for you began back in Carthage."

"Really?" he said, surprised yet pleased. "And what did I do to impress upon you so?"

"I don't know. You were just. . . not what I expected when we set that trap. You turned out to be rather passionate and gallant. You were supposed to be 'the enemy', but in actuality, you were someone fighting for what they believed in."

"I didn't realize I was that charming right off the bat. I remember being rather cross with you at first."

"You managed to be infuriating for the first couple of days. But I couldn't particularly blame you, considering the circumstances."

"I do remember some rather pleasant conversations following the rocky introductions, though."

"You mean the interrogations, where we were both trying to get information out of the other?"

"Yep."

She shook her head with a chuckle. After a brief hush, she looked over at him. "I tried to let you escape, you know."

"You did?"

"When I knew I had to leave you unguarded, I intentionally left your cell unlocked."

"Huh," he said. "You didn't exactly give me a way out of the chains, though."

"I'd assumed you had a way, with how you said goodbye so determinedly. I didn't think you'd collapse the entire section of the building!"

"It was the only option. I knew no one was around to get hurt by it."

She sighed.

"That building was already falling apart before you set up your ambush in it," Percy reasoned. "What's a little more damage?"

"A little —? Percy, you buried all the spare weaponry we had on hand. It took us hours to dig it all out."

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I, uh, I didn't know that. I'm sorry?"

"It's fine. At least we didn't lose them, unlike the shipment the rebels stole."

"Right," he said guiltily. "What were those for, anyway?"

"My century had been neglected up until that point, not allowed the necessities we required. Marcus sent us to end the rebellion because he didn't realize how big of a threat they were at the time, or else he'd have sent more men from a more prestigious cohort. Being allowed the authority I needed, I sought to upgrade my century's gear, as none of it was in prime condition. Several weapons had been breaking, and even the spares we'd brought along were forged by less than masterful craftsmen."

"I'm sorry."

"It worked out in the end. After reporting my failure to end the rebellion, I appealed to the Senate that the cause was due to a lack of proper gear, and they ordered Marcus to upgrade us. He put my century on extra rigorous training exercises for weeks afterward for going over his head, but morale was boosted with the new equipment. The Senate couldn't replace the lives that were lost, however."

The conversation having gone grim, she hastily changed the subject. "Where are we going?"

"Uh," he said, stopping in his tracks. The intersection they now stood at looked nothing like the ones Jason had described to him earlier. "That way?" He pointed halfheartedly to the right.

"Percy, are you lost?"

"No, of course not."

"Where are we going?" she asked again.

Sighing, Percy answered her. "I didn't want to give it away until we got there, but I was trying to take you to the Circus Maximus."

"But that's way back there," she said, pointing behind him.

"Jason said to go south!"

"We've been walking north."

Percy looked at the sky and realized that the sun was indeed in the opposite place it should have been for them to be walking south. "Whoops?"

"Come on." She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to follow her back the way they'd come from.

Embarrassed, he walked alongside her back toward the castrum, grateful she wasn't poking fun at his mistake. A while later, they arrived at one of the Roman Republic's most celebrated landmarks: the Circus Maximus. The massive oval stadium was, undoubtedly, the largest amphitheater in the world, and dedicated to Percy's personal favorite pastime: chariot-racing.

The pair took their seats as the horses dragged their chariots around the track in an exciting struggle for first place. According to Jason, they should have arrived before the day's races began, but because of Percy's little detour, they were late.

Once they were situated and comfortable, Reyna finally asked the question he'd been waiting for. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"When I was a lot younger," he started, "Daedalus would sometimes take me into the city — Alexandria, I mean — and we'd watch the races. It was his way of rewarding me for reaching a new milestone in my training. A lot of my most memorable conversations with him happened during a race. It was the thing I always looked forward to most before he died, and I'd always wanted to see one in a stadium this big. Now I'm sharing the experience with you."

"You really seem to have admired the man."

"Of course. In his youth, he built and invented great things and lived a life that would go down in the stories, but in his old age, he was a completely different person. He worked hard to repent for his biggest mistakes by pushing us all to be the best we could be, and personally helped me master all of my skills and abilities because he saw something in me. I owe a lot to him."

"I'm really sorry."

"You weren't the one who killed him," he said firmly. "You've nothing to be sorry about. And there are more important things than dwelling on the past right now." Percy had looked around and asked where he could, but the name still eluded him. It was disappointing, but what he said was true. Finding Daedalus's killer wasn't a priority. The past was in the past, at least for now.

The race finished, and new racers had already finished lining up at the gates. Percy eyed them carefully for a few moments before pointing to a particular chariot. "That one's going to win, the one with the dark horse and the spotted horse."

Reyna looked at him curiously. "Why do you sound so sure about that?"

"Because I have an eye for it," he said proudly. "Every single time, I can pinpoint the winning chariot before the race begins, and I've never been wrong."

"Fascinating. We'll just have to see, then."

The host dropped his cloth, signifying the start of the race, and the gates swung open. Instantly, the horses all darted out onto the track, and Percy's chosen racer took the lead. He smiled smugly at Reyna, who was watching the race with rapt attention.

The first lap finished, then the second, and the third, all while the same racer was consistently in the lead. In the fourth lap, however, they dropped to second place and soon after into third, but Percy wasn't worried. By the time the seventh and final lap rolled around, his racer had reentered first and was picking up speed. They closed half of the lap when the person behind him rammed him in the side, causing him to wobble off to the right and lose his position. He managed to recover, but by the time he crossed the finish line, two other people had already claimed first and second place.

Reyna looked at him triumphantly. "Never been wrong, you said?"

"Well," he said sheepishly, "Nine times out of ten."

She didn't seem impressed.

"About half the time I'm right," he clarified.

"That sounds more accurate," she said with a look of pure amusement on her face.

"So," he said, changing the subject. "You ever been here before?"

"A few times," she said. "But only once did I actually spectate a race. When I was a little girl, my father let my sister and me come here one time. She got into a fight with a man several years older than her and we were thrown out." Reyna had a wistful smile on her face as she recalled her sister's antics.

"I didn't know you had a sister," Percy said.

"It's. . . not a pleasant memory."

"You don't have to talk about it if —"

"No," she interrupted. "I want to." She took a moment to organize her thoughts, then began her story. "My father used to be a great man, I've been told. That was before I was born. He was a soldier and fought in the war, eventually attaining the rank of Primus Pilus. He was renowned for his resolve and melee prowess, but the war broke him. My sister, Hylla, says she remembers a time when he was caring, but all I've known is an angry drunk. One day he became furious with Hylla and hit her, but she fought back. She was no match for him, though, and he might have killed her. I was so young and so scared, but I didn't like seeing her hurt. So I picked up his dagger. . . and I stabbed him in the side."

Percy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and she smiled. He wanted to say something, but decided it was better to let her finish.

"I was mortified by what I did, so I ran," she continued. "I fled the house and never looked back. That was the last time I saw Hylla. I've tried to find her, but have had no luck. It was only later when I met my mother for the first and last time that I learned he bled out from the wound — that I'd killed him."

"You can't blame yourself for that," he said firmly.

"How? It was by my hand he died. The only reason they let me into the legion was because they knew who my father was. I'd have been publicly executed a long time ago for patricide if they knew what I'd done."

"When it comes to those we care about, no price is too high to pay in order to protect them. You had no other choice."

"I know," she said halfheartedly. "But for all I know, Hylla died too, and I killed my father for nothing."

"She's alive," he insisted. "From what you said, she's strong and capable. People like that don't fall easily."

She smiled, but didn't look all that reassured.

"I once entered one of these races, you know," Percy said, after a silence.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Did you win?"

"Well. . . not really."

"Did you come in last?"

"Technically, no. You see, as a son of Poseidon, I can talk to and understand horses. At the time, I didn't know that. So when the horses talked to me, I was so startled that I false-started and crashed into the stands."

She laughed.

"Yeah, that's what the audience did, too," he said.

"Did you get another chance to race?" she asked, looking highly amused.

"No. A couple men came along to escort me off the track, but I didn't know what they were going to do, so I just ran."

She laughed again, and he joined in with his own chuckle at his past mortification. In hindsight, it was pretty funny.

They continued to watch the final two races, talking and enjoying the night without any more somber topics dampening the pleasant mood. Once the event was over, they left the circus along with everyone else and started walking back toward the castrum.

"I'm sorry I got us mixed up on the way here," said Percy. "Probably missed out on an extra race or two."

"Don't worry about it," said Reyna. "I had a great time."

"That's good."

They arrived back at the praetorium after a comfortable silence and stopped at her door.

"So. . ." he started, but she stopped him.

"Inside," she ordered, opening the door.

He followed her through the entryway even though he'd be leaving again soon enough. "So," he said again. "What are you feeling about this thing between you and me now? Have you changed your mind?"

"Oh, yes," she said with a playful smile. "In fact, I think it would be best if you transferred to Gallio's legion so we don't have to see each other any more."

He grinned. "So, we'll do this again?"

"I think so."

Before he could say anything else, she moved forward and pulled him into a kiss. Her technique was still a bit off and less than experienced, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. So long as she didn't decide it wasn't working out and tell him to not go near her anymore, she'd get better at it. After too short a time, she pulled away with a small blush forming on her face.

"You're starting to get familiar," he commented.

"Is that bad?"

"Not at all."

"Good, because. . . I enjoy it." Her blush grew exponentially.

He chuckled.

Her eyes narrowed. "You have responsibilities to attend to tomorrow, probatio," she said scornfully, although her eyes still sparkled playfully.

Suddenly straightening his posture, he said, "Right, centurion. I should be going."

She rolled her eyes, still smiling.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow?" he said uncertainly.

"Sure."

With the confirmation he needed, he took his leave. Once the door closed behind him, he let out a sigh. Really, that couldn't have gone any better.


	15. XIV

In the dead of night, the only noise to be heard was that of Percy's footsteps as he swept through the still castrum and into the praetorium. He was breaking curfew, but he didn't care. Right now, the risk of being caught didn't matter to him.

Traversing through the building, he finally wound up in front of a door he'd stood in front of many times now. He raised his fist, then hesitated. For too long, he stood there, contemplating whether or not he should just go back to his cell and attempt to get some sleep. Then he finally found his resolve, and his knuckles rapped against the wood. Enough time passed that he was about to consider knocking again when the door suddenly opened, revealing a hastily dressed Reyna.

She had an irritated expression on her face, but that was quickly replaced by confusion once she registered who had woken her. "Percy? What are you doing here?"

The tiredness in her voice sent a pang of guilt through him, but he'd make it up to her. "Sorry. Yesterday I had something I wanted to show you, but we didn't get around to it because, well. . . you know."

She blushed.

The previous evening, Percy had come over so purposefully, a fully formulated plan in his mind, but it shattered the instant their lips met. It'd been meant as just a quick greeting kiss, but in that moment, their mouths were glued together. It didn't take long before tongues came into play for the first time. It had been sudden, unexpected, and intimate, but ended abruptly after a while when he realized it was headed in a direction he wasn't quite ready for yet.

"Right," she said, her cheeks refusing to return to a natural shade.

"So I'm showing you now," he said determinedly. "Because it can't wait until I get back."

"Fine. Give me a few minutes then," Reyna said with a sigh, retreating into the room and closing the door.

A short while later, they left the castrum together, the guards atop the walls too busy with a distraction to spot them. They crept through Rome's restful streets, eventually arriving at a place where they'd dueled some pirates a short time ago.

"You couldn't wait to show me a pier?" said Reyna, looking around for something out of the ordinary.

"Do you trust me?" said Percy.

She looked at him intently before giving him a single nod. He held his hands out to her, and she gently took them in her own. Giving her a mischievous grin, he held tight and then allowed himself to fall back off the wooden platform, dragging her with him into the sea. He could just barely see her face take on a look of alarm before the water obscured his vision.

Unlike what she'd probably been expecting, they both remained completely dry and floated gently to the bottom of the Mare Nostrum, a bubble of air appearing around them once their feet touched the sand. Reyna let out a breath she'd been holding and then looked around in wonderment. They stood in a perfectly spherical bubble of air surrounded by water, stopped from reaching them only by Percy's willpower.

"This is incredible," she said, tearing her eyes away from the curious fish that cautiously avoided the bubble to look at Percy.

"It may not come as a surprise," he said, "but the water is my favorite place to be. It's where I feel most at home." He let go of one of her hands and lowered himself into a sitting position, and she quickly followed suit.

"Perhaps I won't punish you for breaking your curfew after all," she bantered.

The centurion scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, a warm feeling blossoming in his chest. The past week with her had gone by way too quickly. It was crazy how time worked like that — dragging on forever when you're impatient for the future and blazing by at the speed of Hermes when you don't want the present to end.

They'd agreed to take things slowly, for both their sakes. Percy really liked her, which was why he didn't want to progress too quickly for fear it'd be like him hurrying to use her to replace what he had with Annabeth, which wouldn't be fair to her. Although they'd been succeeding at taking it slow — with them hardly doing more than kissing or holding hands in private up until their intense saliva-swapping the previous day — they were growing closer rather quickly. Unlike before, Reyna instantly dropped the centurion professionalism when it was just him around and acted like herself. It was something he could get used to.

"Was this all you wanted to show me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said. "I just wanted another moment alone, just the two of us, before I had to leave."

A content smile rested on his lips as the two sat together in a serene peace Percy hoped would last forever. This was the moment he'd planned yesterday. This was how he wanted to end off the short time they had together before he had to leave again — something that told, quite plainly and without words, that this is where they'd pick up again when he returned.

Some more time passed, and he glanced down at the woman resting her head on his shoulder; she'd fallen asleep. It was at that moment Percy knew exactly how lucky he was. Everything had just worked out for him, the best he could hope for. To have been captured by _this_ particular centurion in Carthage and to have found himself joining her century after leaving the rebellion was amazing in and of itself. Even more unlikely was that he'd made friends with Jason and her, and now she wanted to be more than that. On top of all that, things with the rebellion were nearing a peaceful resolution too. It made him wonder if he'd done something to impress Tyche and have her look out for him. At the very least, it felt like the gods were endorsing the choices he'd made.

After some time, the sun began to shine through the water's surface, and he knew the moment was over. He had to meet Marcus soon, and making the legatus impatient was not on his list of smart ideas. So, reluctantly, he woke her.

* * *

With a party consisting of himself, Marcus, and some esteemed soldiers from the second and third cohorts, Percy traveled the same road leading to where Gallio and his first and eighth cohort resided. The journey took longer than it had the last two times Percy had ridden this route, as Marcus gave them a lot more breaks than Gallio did — whether this proves Marcus's generosity is up for debate. This time around, the ride actually took a full two days, which meant that the meeting would be taking place in less than twenty-four hours of their arrival.

That day still proved to be too long, though, as Marcus set him to work in preparing the neutral meeting location. That meant he had to help build the tent, dig the trenches on either side of it, and set up barricades where the soldiers would stand behind, waiting in case something went wrong. And then when all that was done, he'd also been given more menial labors he had to trudge through.

After a very exhausting list of chores, he rested in high hopes before waking up on the final day of the war. He knew it was true. After today, the rebellion would be disbanded — there'd be peace once again.

A part of him scolded himself for being so naively optimistic, but he couldn't help it. The day he'd been waiting for was here. The plan was foolproof. The demigods would hear what Rome offered them, stand down, and Luke would be utterly incapable of continuing on his path of war and chaos. Percy's friends would go free, the legati would be happy, and he could go back to Rome and spend more time with Reyna. It would work; it had to.

Percy entered Gallio's tent where he, Marcus, and Aulus were waiting for him. In the middle of the tent sat a table, and on top of that, a map and a few arrows. Looking closer, he saw tiny scrolls wrapped around the arrow shafts similarly to the one sent by the rebels the last time he'd been here. He assumed this was how they'd communicated the exact time and place of the meeting, instead of just sending a messenger on a five-minute walk.

"Finally," Marcus grumbled.

"Legati," Percy said respectfully.

"Now that we're all here," said Gallio, "we can get going."

Without another word, the three officers exited the tent, and Percy followed along behind them. They crossed over the trench via bridge and then met up with about a dozen soldiers, who followed them toward the new tent set up in the middle of the two castra. Once there, the legati, Primus Pilus, Percy, and two of the legionnaires entered the tent while the rest — presumably from Gallio's first cohort — remained behind them at the barricades. Percy peeked out of the other entrance and saw no sign of the rebels. After informing the officers of such, he began pacing back and forth while Gallio and Aulus had a quiet conversation, Marcus just standing by, looking impatient.

Finally, after several minutes had passed, the tent opened and in stepped Luke, Annabeth, and Alabaster. Annabeth and Luke moved to stand directly in front of them with wary looks on their faces while Alabaster took guard at their side of the tent's entrance. No one said anything, and then Marcus looked at Percy expectantly. It took him a moment to realize that he was the only one there who knew everyone's names.

"Luke, Annabeth," he said, trying his best to sound formal, "of the Greek rebellion. You stand before Legatus Marcus, Legatus Gallio, and Primus Pilus Aulus, of the Roman Legions." He glanced at his officers and got nothing more than a nod from Aulus to tell him he did well.

"Let's get this over with," said Marcus.

Gallio cleared his throat and stepped forward, apparently having been the one elected to lead the negotiations. "In the name of peace, we're willing to forgive the crimes you've committed under certain conditions."

"You want the fort back," said Luke.

Percy couldn't read his face. He glanced at Annabeth, who was determinedly looking anywhere but back at him. She seemed anxious, looking nowhere near as confident as Luke did.

"Yes," Gallio confirmed. "In exchange for amnesty, we would ask you to vacate the structure and return any hostages you possess, alive or dead. You will be permitted to depart for your home cities unhindered, so long as you leave your weaponry behind and swear an oath to never take up arms against the Republic again."

"But. . . _why_ should we do that?" said Luke in a condescending tone. "We hold the advantage here. I don't see any reason we should surrender to you."

Deciding not to correct Luke about the advantage thing, Gallio sweetened the deal. "Upon returning to whichever former Greek city you hail from, you'll find we'll have lessened our grasp on them. We'll have lifted the curfews and reduced the military presence to that of any Roman city. Your people will be welcome to worship whichever pantheon they choose."

"And the taxes?" Annabeth piped up.

Gallio looked at her curiously. "Will remain unchanged. I assure you that the coin collected from the citizens is poured straight back into their quality of life. We've provided them food, protection, and even recreation — all things your warring governments failed to do while they still existed."

Annabeth opened her mouth to no doubt give an intelligent retort, but Luke held up his hand to silence her.

"We want the traitor," he said, eyes on Percy.

"What?" Gallio said, taken aback.

"We want the man who stabbed us in the backs delivered to us in chains. Throw that in, and we'll have a deal."

"Preposterous," said Marcus.

Percy stared at the legatus, surprised.

"Preposterous, is it?" said Luke, glaring at Marcus. "We know your numbers. Will you really miss one soldier who's not even Roman?"

"The demigod is too valuable," Marcus insisted.

"Demi —? You told them!" Annabeth said, looking at him for the first time.

Percy nodded guiltily, barely able to withstand the look of betrayal in her eyes. "I did."

"Yes," said Marcus. "He was quite forthcoming with all your little secrets. But you can't have him. He's repenting his and your crimes in service to the Republic. Without him, you have little more to offer us than a castrum we can easily take back by force."

"Easily?" Luke said, beginning to lose his composure. "Why don't you try it, then? Send as many legions as you want at its walls; they'll all fall."

"You honestly think a band of Greek savages can —"

"Marcus!" Gallio tried to warn, but his colleague continued over him.

"— hold a castrum against the thousands of men we have at our command?"

"Hold your tongue, _Roman_," Luke hissed, venom dripping from his voice and hand resting on his sword's hilt.

"Rethink your position," Marcus growled. "We're generously offering you barbarians everything you want and the ability to go home as free men, because you're just honestly not worth our time or resources to war with. This is the best offer you're going to get from us. Turn it down, and we'll raze through your ranks before you even know what's happened. You'll all die having accomplished nothing but a few meaningless murders and be forgotten to the history books, leaving no legacies behind or songs to be sung in your honor."

Luke drew his sword and leveled it at Marcus.

Percy immediately stepped between them, his own weapon drawn and directed at his old strategos. "Lower your sword, Luke. After everything you've fought for, everything you've done, you're going to throw it all away for hatred and spite? This is all we've wanted, being handed to you on a silver platter. It's already more than you deserve."

"You really want to die protecting _them,_ Percy?" Luke spat. He gestured toward Annabeth, telling her to step back. She hesitantly complied. "You're going to give your life for the men who cut down your countrymen and invaded our cities?"

"No one's dying today. Lower your sword and stop before you do something irrevocably stupid."

Luke swung, and Percy parried the blow. Another came, and then a third. Percy attempted to kick him in the chest, but Luke caught his foot and pulled him off balance, causing him to fall to his back. Luke tried to level his blade at Percy's throat, but the son of Poseidon rolled away from it and deftly returned to his feet.

"Did you even ask them what _they_ wanted before coming in here?" Percy demanded. "This isn't about what _you _want, Luke. You can commit suicide by keeping up the charade that you can win this war all you want, but you're taking the lives of those you lead, too. Their blood will be on your hands."

Luke's eyes darted to where Annabeth was watching them both with uncertain eyes for only a moment, before he raised his blade to attack again. However, before he could, a hilt struck his head from the side, and he collapsed to the ground. One of the legionnaires that had accompanied them into the tent sheathed his sword and stepped back.

"Luke!" Annabeth called out and dropped to kneel by his still form.

"Have you no honor?" Alabaster shouted as he began to draw his sword, but stopped halfway when Percy leveled his own blade at him.

"Stand down," he said. "This can still be salvaged."

Marcus scoffed.

Percy turned to the officers and tried to hide his irritation. "Sir. Luke doesn't speak for all of them. Tell them what you offered him, and they can still accept the terms."

"And what of _him_?" Gallio asked while gesturing to the unconscious demigod.

Percy was quiet for a moment, then said, "Luke made his choice. His men haven't."

"So be it."

"Go on then," said Marcus. "I can watch this lot."

"Not alone, you can't. Aulus, remain here."

Gallio gestured for his two soldiers and Percy to follow him and walked past Luke's defeated form and out of the tent. Once outside, they could see all of the demigods gathered a small distance away. Gallio stepped forward and raised his voice.

"Demigods of Greece. Your leader has just attacked one of our men unwarranted. Despite this, I'm willing to forgive you for his slight and present you with an offer."

The demigods glanced between each other, all having varying reactions to Gallio's words.

The legatus continued and repeated everything he'd offered to Luke to them. He swore to them they'd be granted amnesty and be free to go home as if the rebellion had never even happened. Murmurs erupted in the crowd of demigods that fell quiet when Gallio spoke again.

"Lay down your arms and kneel before us, and you'll be free to leave this place with your lives and everything you fought for."

No one did anything, but a lot of them looked conflicted, as if they wanted to accept but weren't sure whether Gallio could be trusted.

Percy stepped forward and said, "He's being honest. His promises will be kept so long as you surrender. I swear it to you on the Styx." A single clap of thunder shook the sky, and many faces looked reassured, but still, they did not kneel.

Many feelings could be seen in the demigods' eyes: confusion, hope, anger, doubt, relief. Each face told a different story, and as Percy studied each and every one, he grew more and more nervous that no one would kneel.

After what felt like an eternity, clouds had begun to form in the sky, and someone finally drew their sword and threw it to the ground before dropping to one knee. Seconds passed, and another followed suit, then another and another until half of the rebellion had disarmed themselves and kneeled to Rome.

Percy didn't allow himself to feel relief for even a second as he watched the other half warily. They stood with shock and fury clear on their faces, glancing at each other with hands on their sheathed weapons.

There was a hush, broken only by the cawing of birds and the wind shaking the branches of trees. The clouds were grey and thick overhead. A wave of uncertainty crept over Percy that he knew Gallio and the other soldiers could feel too. Then the silence was broken as the standing rebels nodded at each other and drew their blades, and Percy thought that was it. They were about to drop their weapons to the ground and kneel. Then it'd be over.

"Traitors!" a voice cried out. A man stepped forward. He had a slim build covered with leather armor and strands of raven-black hair dangling in front of a face contorted with hatred. The thing that stood out most about him was an eyepatch that covered one eye. Ethan.

Time slowed to a crawl, and Percy's blood ran cold. Before anyone even moved, he suddenly knew what was about to happen and immediately broke into a sprint, but he was way too far away. Ethan thrust his sword into the back of the nearest kneeling demigod. Blood spilled across the grass as not even a second passed before the rest of the demigods that refused to kneel followed suit and cut down those who'd surrendered. Percy ran as fast as he possibly could, but to no effect. Some of the kneeling rebels realized what was happening and scrambled away from the people they'd called allies, attempting to retrieve their weapons. They never stood a chance, as arrows punctured their hearts before they had the opportunity to fight back. In seconds, half of the rebellion had been culled by the other. And the second they'd completed their atrocity, the remaining half turned heel and ran.

Percy didn't think as his feet sailed beneath him, bringing him closer to the murderers as quickly as possible. The ground shook unnaturally with each step in short, violent quakes. He felt nothing but anger and thought nothing more than, "kill." He didn't even stop to wonder how Alabaster had gone from being behind him in the tent to being with the other demigods, holding an unfurled book in one hand while casting magic to conceal the remaining rebels as they fled the meeting ground.

Ethan tried to run, but Percy had already reached him. He swung his blade, and Ethan deflected it, his one eye widening in shock and fear as Percy's attacks came again and again at unrelenting speed. Ethan's blade flew to the grass, and he was sent flying to his back with a kick to the chest. He coughed and tried to catch his breath as Percy advanced on him.

"You won't kill me," he said as he got to his feet. "You were always too good for that. That's what this was always about, wasn't —?" His question was cut short, and his widened eye slowly made its way from Percy's cold expression to the blade inserted into his abdomen.

Percy twisted the weapon before removing it. Ethan coughed, and blood spilled from his mouth as he collapsed to his knees, and soon after crumpled to an unbreathing heap at Percy's feet, as lifeless as the friend he'd murdered.

Percy stepped over the body with the intent to chase after the other murderers, but saw no one. Alabaster's magic had worked, and they'd all escaped — all but Ethan and Luke, the latter of which should still be unconscious in the tent.

Percy raced back the way he came and didn't even take notice of the heavy rain that suddenly splashed against the ground. He ignored Gallio and his soldiers completely, marching straight past them into the tent to find only two people inside. Marcus was recovering from what looked like a blunt strike to the head, while Aulus lay face down with a dagger buried in the back of his neck.

"Where's Luke?" Percy demanded. He was surprised at how shaky his voice was.

"The bitch attacked me!" said Marcus. "I came to, and they were gone, and he was dead."

Gallio entered the tent, looked around, and dropped to a knee by Aulus's lifeless form.

Percy walked back outside. There was no one but Romans and dead Greeks in sight.

"By the gods," Marcus whispered, having followed him out. "What happened here?"

"Everything," said Percy.

* * *

**A/N: Fun fact: If you click on the cover art for the story to zoom in on it, you'll see a crack over the helmet's left eye hole, resembling a certain someone's scar.**


	16. XV

A young boy took careful strides through the streets of Athens, doing his best to not be noticed by anyone. It was a skill he'd mastered in the year since his adoptive mother was taken by an illness, leaving him alone to fend for himself.

He arrived in a market and looked at all the stands, his stomach painfully punishing him for neglecting it for so long. He spotted a couple of stalls that had food laying out in a good position and brought himself near to them while attempting to remain inconspicuous. He waited for his opportunity. Finally, the merchant turned so a single loaf of bread was out of his field of view, and the boy quickly snatched it for himself.

Glad that no one else seemed to be paying him any attention, his feet carried him out of the marketplace and into a discreet alley where he could eat in peace.

"You got some skills, kid," a voice said from behind him. "But I'm going to have to take that from you."

The boy froze and turned to face the voice. A thin man stood in front of him, bearing several scars on his face and wearing light clothing that covered very little of his torso. He was twirling a knife in his fingers and had a sword sheathed at his waist.

The boy clutched the bread closer to his chest with both hands. He knew this wasn't someone he should disobey, but he was so hungry. "N-no," he stammered out.

"Skills _and_ spunk," said the man. "I like you. But I'm afraid I can't have anyone encroaching on Titan's territory."

The boy took a fearful step back. He could try to run, but there'd be nowhere to go. The only way out of the alley was past the man in front of him.

"I'll tell you what," said the man, no longer twirling the dagger in his hand. "How about a trade? You give me that bread, and I'll give you this." He motioned with the dagger, pointing it in the boy's direction.

He almost declined immediately, but stopped to think. He didn't have any way of defending himself, and weapons were a lot harder to steal than food. His stomach protested the decision he was about to make, but he could just go back to the market and steal another loaf. He nodded and took a step forward, extending the bread out to him.

The man smiled and then held the knife up at head height, and then made a sudden movement the boy didn't expect. His arm came down and the dagger flew through the air, rapidly tumbling over itself and speeding toward the frightened child.

He was too slow to react. The tip of the blade connected with his left eye at an odd angle. The handle bounced off his forehead and the knife fell to the ground, as did the bread and the boy as he clutched his bleeding face and cried out in pain.

The man casually walked over and picked up the dagger and bread. New voices sounded, accompanied by hurried footsteps which caused his attacker to hurry off to the side. The boy watched with his uninjured eye as he climbed the wall and took off running across the rooftops. He saw a pair of feet headed his way before he blacked out from the pain.

* * *

When he came to, he found himself in a somewhat comfortable cot with bandages wrapped around his face. He tried opening his eyes and winced at the pain, finding that only one was able to see. He looked around and saw no one, but his eye locked onto a clay goblet on the table beside the cot. He took it and downed it in seconds, the lukewarm water just barely quenching his thirst. He was about to get to his feet when a man entered the unfamiliar room.

"You're awake," he said. "I was worried for a second. That rapscallion hurt you bad. Thought we might've lost you. What's your name, child?"

The boy just stared at him. He recognized the man — it was the same merchant he'd just stolen a loaf of bread from. The gods must've been laughing at him right then.

"Do you have a name, boy?" he asked again, tone still gentle.

"Ethan," he answered with a small voice. Perhaps he didn't know what he'd done. Whatever the case, he owed him his name, at the very least.

"Where are your parents?"

"Dead," Ethan answered, not looking at him.

"How old are you?"

"Ten, I think."

"It sounds like you've been through a lot, poor child," the merchant said sympathetically. "I hate to bring you more bad news, but your eye is gone. That bastard's aim was just true enough to take it, although poor enough that you survived."

Ethan said nothing. He moved his hand to touch his bandages and flinched, but not because of the pain. It was because he didn't feel anything beneath them.

"I do have need of a laborer, if you're interested," said the merchant. "I could provide you with shelter and food in exchange."

"I don't want your pity," Ethan replied coldly.

Taken aback by the response for a moment, the merchant sighed. "So be it. Get some more rest, and then I'll let you be on your way."

He left the room. Ethan continued to lay there for a while, gently touching the place where his eye used to be, before finally pushing himself out of the cot and onto his feet. He quietly walked over to the door and peeked out, before stepping through when he saw no one. Now in what looked like the house's entryway, he searched around and grabbed a few loose drachmas and even found an iron dagger hidden in a drawer. After pocketing his new goods, he found the front door and hurriedly put distance between himself and the merchant's house.

* * *

Over a year following the loss of his eye, he'd learned to adapt to it, even though it was difficult. He was smarter now, and stronger. He was better at going unnoticed, even with the black eyepatch that drew attention to his face. But not standing apart in the crowd was just one of the skills he'd mastered, and he had still more to learn if he wanted to continue making it on his own.

He'd spent many nights sleeping on the hard ground under the starry sky before he discovered the building he now called home. It was tiny and half in ruin, residing in a less-visited sector of the city. He found a part of the building and cleared away all of the rubble to find an intact room closed off from the outside. He'd spent the first many nights in there worrying someone would discover him squatting in the building and arrest or attack him, but eventually he learned no one cared about it. No one wanted it and no one visited it, so now it was his.

The bad thing about his new residence, he soon discovered, was that its location served his purposes very poorly. The people that resided near it were hardly any better off than he was and the closest market wasn't exactly bursting to the brim with food to go around. This meant that if he wanted to eat, he had to go all the way to a different part of the city in order to steal without feeling guilty. The rich had food and coin to go around, and they most likely wouldn't notice the pittance he took from them. The poor rely a lot more heavily on their possessions, though, so he often tried to avoid stealing from them.

Because of the distance between his crumbling home and the wealthier districts, Ethan spent most of his time traversing the city, and today was no different. On the journey to Athens's most prominent marketplace, however, he noticed a man walking in a peculiar manner, rather closely to another passerby. Now, Ethan was no expert, but he could spot another thief when he saw one.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, he saw the man's hand slip into the pocket of the stranger that walked slightly ahead of him and withdraw a coin purse, before inserting the item into his own pocket and slowing his pace. The victim kept forward, getting further away from the man who'd just stolen from him. He didn't seem to notice he was missing something he wasn't just a second ago. How did he do that?

The thief took a turn leading away from the market, and Ethan made a split-second decision to deviate from his intended destination and follow the man. He wanted to see him do it again, so that maybe he could learn to do it himself.

Unfortunately, the thief appeared to be very picky about his targets. It was almost as if he could sniff out which pockets had valuables, which meant he passed up quite a few people without even attempting to take anything from them. Several Roman soldiers passed by as well, which served to make him cautious and pass up even more pockets that were ripe for the picking. Finally, after a lot of walking, the pickpocket found a new victim.

It happened so fast Ethan almost didn't see it. One second a person walking by him had a coin purse dangling from his belt, the next its string was cut and the thief was tucking it in his sleeve. The thief suddenly stopped walking after that, and Ethan almost didn't react quickly enough. The thief turned just as he took cover behind the nearest building, and Ethan saw his scarred face for the first time — no, the _second_ time.

Ethan's hand unconsciously moved itself to his face and gently touched his eyepatch. It was him. There was no mistaking it.

After several seconds passed, Ethan chanced a peek around the corner and saw the thief had begun walking again, so he left his cover and continued following him. Luckily, the thief didn't travel far this time. He stopped at a nearby inn and entered it while Ethan continued to watch him from the doorway. He spoke with the innkeeper and handed over a few drachmas before retreating further into a building and into a room, closing the door behind him. Once he was out of sight, Ethan entered the inn and took a seat at a table, waiting for the thief to either come out of his room or for a good opportunity to slip in unnoticed.

After eyeing the other patrons for a bit, Ethan made his way over to the thief's room while the innkeeper was talking with someone. With one nervous glance around, he hurriedly opened the door and slipped inside, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

"What?" the thief said, sitting up from the bed he'd just been trying to sleep on. "Who are you? Get out of here, kid!"

"Please, sir," Ethan pleaded. "Have you got any food to spare? I'm so hungry."

"No! Piss off, or else hunger will be the least of your worries." He then paused for a second before coming to a realization. "Was it you who was following me?"

"How about a trade?" Ethan asked. He drew a dagger from his pocket.

The thief looked at the knife in confusion for a moment before his eyes widened in recognition, switching between looking at Ethan's eyepatch and the knife. It was too late, though. Ethan drew his arm back, just like he'd practiced, and flicked it forward as hard as he could.

The thief fell back, dead instantly, with the knife lodged in his forehead. Ethan walked over to him, suddenly feeling energy pumping through his veins. He looked at the man's cold, empty eyes as he retrieved his weapon from his skull, and he felt good. This was a man who'd wronged him, damaged him, and now he was dead. Vengeance was his, and it was the sweetest thing he'd ever felt in his life.

The moment was short-lived, though, as he heard a noise behind him. He looked back in horror at the door, wide open as a woman screamed, "murderer!" at the top of her lungs somewhere outside the room. He quickly pocketed the knife without even wiping the blood off and took off at a run. He went in the opposite direction of the screaming but found no back exit. To leave he'd have to go out the way he came, toward all of the people and the woman who'd witnessed what he'd done.

Realizing his chances of escaping were better that way than standing helplessly at a dead end, he ran out of the hallway and into the lobby where several people were staring at him. He ignored them and made straight for the door. Once outside, he ran face-first into a heavily armored man, and fell harshly into a sitting position.

"That's him!" said a woman's voice from behind him in the inn.

Strong hands hefted him to his feet and pushed him against the wall. They searched his pockets and found the bloodstained dagger and a few drachmas he had on hand. Once he was stripped of his belongings, the man bound his hands in rope and shoved him along.

"Move," said the soldier's gruff voice.

"Please!" Ethan pleaded. "He was a thief! He deserved it!"

"That's not for you to decide. _Move_." He shoved him forward and Ethan fell at the force of the push. "Get up!"

Doing his best to obey with his hands bound, Ethan stumbled to his feet and walked forward following another shove from the soldier.

"He took my eye! He attacked me and threw a knife at me!" Ethan said, desperate to go free.

"Oh, just now?" he said disbelievingly.

"N- no! It —"

He was silenced by backhanded smack to the side of his face, that connected so hard it sent him to the ground again, a loud ringing in his ear.

"Save your lies and _get up_!" the soldier ordered. "This will be a lot easier for both of us if you just remain quiet."

After a few seconds of walking, Ethan started to ask "Where are we —?" but was interrupted by another smack to the face, but he kept on his feet that time.

"Did you not hear me, boy?"

With tears staining the right side of his face, Ethan decided to obey the soldier and kept his mouth shut. He continued walking forth in the direction the soldier told him to until they met a man in fancier armor. Behind him he could see a heavily fortified section of buildings surrounded by a wall, and knew that was his destination. If they put him in a cell in there, he'd never be able to escape. He had to think of something.

"What is this, legionnaire?" said the new man. "You detained a kid?"

"This kid killed a man, centurion," said the soldier behind him.

"Is that so?"

"A maid saw the whole thing. Man was at in inn trying to sleep in peace, and this one put a dagger in his face."

"Hmm. We'll just have to hold him in a cell for now until we can find something to do with him. Nearby quarry could probably use a young worker with the strength to put a knife through a human skull." He turned and headed back to the fortress and the soldier shoved him forward, signaling him to follow.

Ethan did so, while his eye roved over the nearby buildings until he spotted a narrow gap between two houses he could slip between. Behind them would most likely be a maze of buildings he could maneuver through, easily losing the soldier long enough to free himself of his binds.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Ethan suddenly took off at a run with his hands still tied behind his back.

"Hey!" the soldier called out, the clanking of his armor sounding that he was chasing after him.

Ethan darted between the buildings and then took a left out onto another street filled with people. He ran forward for just a bit and then turned left between another pair of buildings. He stopped to wriggle his hands free of the ropes. It took a bit, but he managed, watching the soldier run right past his hiding place.

Once his hands were free, he observed his surroundings and weighed his options. His missing eye made him easily identifiable, so any and every soldier in the city would be able to recognize him. If he stayed in Athens, it'd only be a matter of time before he was captured again, and he might not be so lucky the second time around.

Realizing he had no other choice, Ethan took off at a brisk walk and navigated his way through the streets. In the distance he could see the Parthenon up on its hill and walked away from it toward the edge of the city. As he walked, he carefully avoided every Roman soldier he saw. He knew it'd take at least a day for word to spread that he was wanted, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Finally, he found himself at the city's wall and followed it until he found the way out of Athens. The gate was wide open, but four guards stood watch over it. They'd never let him out. He walked away from the gate and followed the wall some more, looking for a way he could get to the other side of it.

Eventually, he found a section of wall that was missing some bricks and had a building pressed right up against it. He made his way to it and carefully climbed up to the building's roof, and then found a foothold on the wall, gripping a few sturdy bricks tightly. It was tougher than he'd anticipated, but he managed to get on top of the wall with only a few scrapes on his hands.

He looked around and saw no soldiers near him, and then peered over the edge toward his freedom. It was a long drop, so he decided he'd find a safer point to climb down.

After walking along for a short time, he decided he'd arrived at the shortest fall he'd find, and cautiously lowered himself down until he was hanging on by the edge. He tried to climb down bit by bit, but he couldn't get a grip and wound up falling straight to the ground. His legs protested on landing, but he didn't think anything was injured.

He looked out in front of him and saw a long stretch of nothing. He didn't know where to go now, but decided that "away from Athens" was good enough to start with. He'd look for a road and hopefully follow it to a new settlement where he wasn't wanted for murder.

He began walking, and before he knew it, hours passed. He had managed to find a road, but didn't know where it would lead him. He might starve to death before he reached civilization. Maybe he could find another traveler along the way and beg them to spare some provisions.

Just as he was scolding himself for making himself hungrier with that thought, he heard a growling coming from the trees to his right. He stopped in his tracks and looked in the direction of the noise nervously. Two seconds passed and then a beast of some kind leaped from the treelines straight toward him. He stumbled backward fearfully, but the beast was dead when it reached him, five arrows sprouting from the back of its head. He didn't get a chance to see what the wild animal was before it turned into golden dust and the arrows dropped to the ground.

Ethan looked to the trees and saw a man riding a horse emerge with a bow in his hand. Strangely, the horse had no head. Ethan blinked and realized that the man and the horse were actually connected.

"Hello, my dear demigod," said the centaur. "My name is Chiron."

* * *

It was quiet. They lay in wait within the treelines, patiently watching the road. Ethan was getting anxious. He fidgeted with his eyepatch and then pulled out his dagger and a rag, polishing the already perfectly clean blade. He never could sit still for very long; he hated waiting.

Ethan glanced over at the marked tree. It had a small little 'X' carved into it that any of them could see. Only after many more minutes passed did an arrow suddenly fly through the air and lodge itself perfectly in the center of the 'X' — they were close now.

Ethan put the rag away and sheathed the dagger in his boot before drawing his sword. It was a basic iron weapon that was very worn and damaged and looked as if it'd simply shatter at the next parry he did with it. He'd be getting a new one soon, though. That's what this was about, after all.

Finally, not long after the scout's arrow hit the marked tree, a pair of carriages came into view. They were each pulled by two horses and had a soldier and a civilian coachman at the front, steering it. The first carriage was filled with boxes and loose weapons in the back while the second held more soldiers. Any second now. . .

Someone whistled loudly, and then the _twing_ of many arrows being loosed could be heard. Every rope and strap keeping the horses connected to the carriages were suddenly severed. The horses freaked out and took off at a gallop, leaving their masters behind in the carriages. The soldiers quickly hopped to the ground and raised their shields in a panic as Ethan and the rest charged forward.

He took the front carriage and met the blade of the soldier that had been riding it with his own. The coachman scuttled away from the fray and hid behind the carriage. Coward.

The legionnaire was good, but not better than Ethan. He parried a few blows and even managed to graze his armor, but Ethan sent his weapon flying away and knocked him to the ground. He was about to turn to the other soldiers when the coachman suddenly picked up a spear from the back of the carriage and charged him.

It was a bad choice. His thrusts were on point, but Ethan was able to dodge them and get inside his guard. He held off the spear with his sword and then, quick as lightning, drew his dagger from his boot and stabbed the man in the gut. He twisted the blade to maximize damage before removing it. The coachman dropped his weapon and then fell to his knees with fear in his eyes.

Ethan looked away from him and saw the other coachman had also picked up a weapon from the carriage and was charging him. Ethan lowered his sword and held his dagger up in front of his face, and then flicked his arm forward. It caught the man in the chest and he fell to the ground, his momentum sliding him forward until he stopped right at Ethan's feet. He picked his favorite weapon back up again. He sheathed his sword and wiped the blood from the dagger before suddenly hearing a noise behind him.

He turned and raised his dagger in a panic and saw the soldier he'd disarmed had retrieved his sword and raised it at him; there was nothing he could do to block it. Just then, an arrow erupted from his mouth and he froze. Ethan quickly sidestepped before the soldier could fall on him. He looked to the trees and saw one of the archers giving him a firm nod.

The other soldiers seemed to realize the battle was lost and took off after the horses. Ethan made his way toward the celebrating demigods as he slipped his dagger back into his boot. Some of the cheering stopped as demigods noticed the dead bodies, but most either didn't see or didn't care.

Luke ordered them to haul the carriage full of weapons back to their camp and Ethan did so happily. He felt good. The Romans now had fewer weapons to use against people like the father he'd never met, and three of their kind were standing before Hades. It was a good day.

* * *

The Romans shouted things at him in Latin as he closed their own cell door on them. If it were up to him, he'd have just killed them, but Luke insisted on keeping them alive to bargain with. Hopefully the food stores would be able to keep up with the rebellion and the hostages.

Ethan left the cell and exited out into the fortress. A few people were gathering wood outside the walls and building a pyre while the rest were yelling and arguing with each other. Ethan glanced at some of the bloodstains he passed, the bodies that had produced them having been moved somewhere else.

"This wasn't how this was supposed to happen!" one of the demigods shouted.

"Who cares?" another retorted. "The fort is ours. What does it matter if some of the scum are dead?"

"We had a plan! None of this would have happened if we'd just stuck to it."

"Chris is dead! How can any of you be scolding us for killing when they have and would just as quickly do the same to us? What about you, Clarisse?"

"Don't you dare try and use him against me," she said dangerously, her voice shakier than he'd ever heard it before. "Say his name again and he won't be the only demigod who dies today."

They continued shouting and Ethan grew worried. He kept silent and eyed everyone carefully, taking note of the people whose loyalties seemed to be wavering. They signed up for a war against Rome and now they were threatening to kill their own because Romans died? How did that even make sense?

Ethan noticed Luke wasn't out there and left the arguing demigods behind. He found the largest building in the fort and entered it. He searched the rooms until he discovered Luke in the office he seemed to have claimed for his own. The rebel leader was currently feeding seeds to a pigeon that was perched on his hand.

"Things are getting tense out there, strategos," said Ethan.

Luke looked thoughtful. The pigeon cooed contentedly and allowed Luke to tie a message to its leg. As he'd learned from his demented mother, Luke was a son of Hermes, the messenger god. This gave him the unique ability to train a homing pigeon to not only seek out its coop, but to be able to navigate to any human it recognized.

"Some of the demigods aren't happy with how we're doing things," Ethan elaborated. "They're angry about the bloodshed."

"They don't have Greece's best interests at heart," he commented calmly, although anger was apparent in his eyes. Luke whispered a name into the pigeon's ear and it flew out the window.

"I fear a mutiny, strategos."

The word brought Luke to his feet. He stood there for a moment and then marched out of the office and then out of the building. Ethan followed him and they stopped at the demigods who looked like they'd rip each other apart any second now.

"Demigods!" Luke shouted. "Enough of this!"

Everyone fell silent and turned to face him.

"Stop. Cease this madness. Daedalus gave his life for this cause. Are you going to dishonor his memory by fighting amongst yourselves and throwing away all the progress we've made? We're not fighting for ourselves. We're fighting for Greece and its people. Wasting your efforts by arguing amongst yourselves about things that don't matter is selfish. Stop thinking about what pointless things _you _want and think about the people we're fighting this war for. The next person to complain about our victory here today can clean our new fortress from top to bottom."

Luke didn't wait to see their reaction. He just walked off, back to his office, somehow perfectly confident his words would solve the conflict for the time being.

* * *

Luke's little speech only accomplished one thing: preventing the argument from escalating into an all-out battle. Tensions remained high; arguments still occurred; unity was still nothing but a fever dream at this point. On top of all that, there'd been a few deserters recently. Despite his faith in his leader, Ethan began to wonder how they could possibly prevent all of this from falling apart.

As they walked away from the gate where they'd just spoken with the traitor, he heard muttering coming from the other demigods. He thought they might actually keep their thoughts to themselves this time, but was proven wrong right when Luke reached the building containing his office — the praetorium, Annabeth had insisted it was called.

"Are we making peace with Rome?" someone shouted. He couldn't tell by their tone what answer they were hoping for.

Luke turned to face the demigods and didn't hesitate to answer. "Of course not. So long as I live, I'll never accept anything but submission from Rome. This truce serves only to give us time enough to prepare. When we meet, their officers shall fall and we'll have the traitor Perseus in custody. Rome's legions will fall into chaos without leadership and we'll have an advantage over them."

Many voices erupted at Luke's announcement. Some were cheering, but most were outraged. They called Luke several things and shouted their disagreements until Luke finally had to give in. Without the full support of their forces, the plan would never work.

"Shut up!" Luke shouted, the look of cold fury on his face doing more to stop the shouting than his voice. After taking a moment to calm himself. "Fine. I will rethink our plans." He pointed to Ethan, Alabaster, and a few other demigods he trusted. "Come with me. We have things to discuss."

They all began to follow him, but Luke stopped when he noticed Annabeth among them.

"Not you," he said to her. "Calm them down. Try and make them see sense."

She didn't look happy at all at the order, but grudgingly remained behind as the group entered the praetorium and walked to Luke's office.

Once they were all seated, everyone waited for the strategos to say something.

"I don't know what to do," he finally admitted.

Everyone was silent.

"What do I do?" he asked in a louder tone. "Half my forces are on the verge of abandoning my cause. Our most powerful soldier has joined the enemy side. All of my plans are going awry, and it's _his_ fault!"

Alabaster spoke up, obviously eager to avoid another one of Luke's tirades about Percy. "We'll need to regroup. We should take the time to rethink our strategies and gather some more loyal forces from the Greek city-states."

"We've been trying to recruit mortals, Al," someone spoke up. It was the archer who'd saved Ethan at the weapons ambush. "It hasn't been working out for us, has it? Why do you expect it to go any different this time?"

"Because they'll get to meet their new leader in person, this time," he said, gesturing at Luke. "And we'll have more than just a handful of us out there looking."

"If that doesn't work, we could always buy forces," someone else piped up.

"No," said Luke. "I'll not put a sword in the hands of slaves or mercenaries. I'll only allow those I can trust not to stab me in the back at the first opportunity to join our ranks."

"So we try again with the recruiting thing again," Ethan said. "Making it our priority this time. What of the others? The ones we can't trust to stick with our cause?"

"Annabeth allowed Percy to go free after he betrayed us," said Luke. "Now look where he is. We can't have any more going over to Rome."

Ethan smiled maliciously. "They promised their lives to our cause, didn't they?"

"Wait, we're just going to kill them?" someone asked.

"If they choose to abandon us, it's what they deserve. If they go over to the enemy's side, they'll just as soon do it to us."

There were a few murmurs of agreement.

"We'll need to be careful how we go about this," said Luke. "We'll need to make sure they can't fight back, and we need to make sure we wait for the right moment to do it. We don't want them taking any of us down with them."

"We should do it before the meeting," said Alabaster. "If we go there we'll have enemies on both sides of us. Better to eliminate the traitors so we only have the Romans to worry about."

"No! They're not traitors yet. This meeting will be the perfect opportunity to weed out the disloyal. You heard what Percy said. Rome is going to make us an offer for peace. Anyone who accepts the offer can't be allowed to live."

"What of the officers?" Ethan asked.

"There won't be a chance to take them out with our numbers dwindled. If we get an opportunity, then we'll try and kill them. Right now we need to focus on those of our own who want to hurt us."

"We'll have to abandon the castrum," someone said.

"Of course. We'll need to put great distance between us and Rome's strongest legions until we can increase our numbers." Luke was silent for a while, deep in thought. "You're all dismissed. Keep your mouths shut about this, even between each other. What was said in this room shall never be repeated outside it. Do you understand?"

There were some nods.

"I said, _do you understand?_"

"Yes, strategos," everyone said in unison.

"Good. Now leave."

Everyone left, but Ethan hung back when he saw Alabaster doing the same.

"Is there something else you wish to share?" Luke asked.

"There was another deserter in the night," said Alabaster.

Luke scowled. "Their fate?"

"Dead and buried."

"Good," he murmured. "Sad that they couldn't see correctly, but they can't hurt us anymore."

"Who was it?" Ethan asked.

"Charles," Alabaster answered.

"Of course," said Luke. "He had more Egyptian blood in his veins than Greek. His loyalties never lay with Greece." He was quiet for a while. "The consuls' deaths get further and further away," he muttered, not seeming to notice they were still there.

Alabaster took his leave and Ethan followed him out of the office, closing the door behind him. A few seconds passed and then screams of fury could be heard from inside, as well as a repeated _thwack_, like he was attacking some inanimate object with his sword.

* * *

The next day, after having been sent for, Ethan entered the praetorium and found Luke's office. He was about to knock when he heard voices inside.

". . . beginning to understand why Percy left you for some Roman whore," Luke said coldly.

There was no sound for a moment, and then a woman's voice started to speak up before being quickly cut off by a loud _smack_. More silence, and then the door opened and Annabeth exited, her cheek red. She gave him only a single glance before striding past. Ethan entered the room, his one eye focusing on Luke.

"You wanted to see me, strategos?" said Ethan.

"I have a mission for you," he replied. "I require you to carry it out with the utmost caution. Take your time with it, but it must be done before the meeting."

"What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to meet with everyone who you believe can be trusted to do the right thing when the time comes. Be discreet when talking with them, and then inform them of what they'll need to do. If they need convincing, convince them. Do whatever it takes, but don't let word spread of our plans."

"It will be done."

"Good."

Luke went quiet, but he hadn't dismissed him yet so Ethan waited.

"Was there something else, strategos?" he asked.

"I have another task for you following the meeting."

"What is it?"

"When we abandon the castrum, you won't be accompanying us. I'll need you to stay back and eliminate Legatus Gallio when you have the opportunity. Then head to Rome and await further contact."

Ethan was surprised. "What are you planning?"

"There are people in that city I want you to put down."

Ethan smiled. He got the fun job.


	17. XVI

Connor.

_Thwack!_

Travis.

_Thwack!_

Katie.

_Thwack!_

Lee.

_Thwack!_

Castor.

_Thwack!_

Percy didn't allow himself to think; he didn't allow himself to mourn. He only allowed himself to train and remember. Every time his sword struck the dummy, another name of someone lost entered his mind accompanied by the vivid picture of their lifeless face as they were placed upon the funeral pyre. It was all he could do for now. The only thing he could feel is angry.

Clarisse.

_Thwack!_

He could hear footsteps approaching, but he paid them no attention.

Michael.

_Thwack!_

"Percy," said Jason.

Will.

_Thwack!_

"Percy, this has to stop. This isn't healthy."

Clovis.

_Thwack!_

"You've been back four days now and you haven't talked to Reyna once."

Percy paused. He'd been so excited to get back to Rome and see Reyna again when he left. But things were different now — everything had changed.

"We're both worried about you."

Pollux.

_Thwack!_

Sherman, Miranda.

_Thwack! Thwack!_

Jason eventually seemed to realize that trying to get Percy to talk was a hopeless endeavor after more attempts to get through to him failed. He gave up and walked away, leaving Percy to his own devices.

Silena.

_Thwack!_

Laurel, Holly, Chiara.

_Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!_

Before long, Percy ran out of names but continued viciously assaulting the straw dummy that stood before him. His fury continued to grow until his attacks were so rapid the human eye could hardly keep up with them. The dummy eventually gave out and shattered into a pile of splinters. Percy was surprised that it had lasted as long as it did.

The demigod stood there panting for a few seconds, catching his breath, before sheathing his sword and deciding to try and sleep — a luxury he wasn't getting much of lately. He traversed through the castrum and found himself in his same old cell. He took off his armor and dropped it on the ground before lying on his cot.

After witnessing what Percy had done at the meeting, Gallio seemed convinced of Percy's loyalty to Rome and suggested to Marcus that he be promoted to legionnaire. When Marcus tried to deny that idea, Gallio mentioned testifying in front of the Senate about Percy's actions and Marcus was resigned to take his recommendation. So Percy was no longer a probatio, even though Marcus still refused to let him sleep anywhere other than his cell.

Upon falling into his cot, Percy learned he was more exhausted than he'd thought as it hardly took any time at all for sleep to find him, and the dreams came soon after.

He was walking through a crimson field. He knew there was grass beneath his feet, but you wouldn't be able to tell by sight alone as it was all coated in blood as far as the eye could see. In the distance a man facing away from him was visible, and Percy made toward him.

The closer he got, the younger the man seemed to become. Percy stopped when he was right next to him and he didn't look more than a decade old. The boy turned to face him, and stared at him fearfully with his one good eye, the other covered by a patch.

Percy had no control over himself. He was angry, and he didn't know why. He drew his sword and stabbed the boy straight through the heart, twisting the blade to ensure he died. Blood spilled from his chest and the boy screamed.

Percy awoke drenched in sweat and breathing heavily, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. He closed his eyes and took slow, deep breaths to try and calm himself. He rolled over and tried to fall asleep again, but slumber refused to find him. The next thing he knew, it was morning.

* * *

After adorning his armor and strapping his sword and empty canteen to his side, he made his way out of his cell and up the staircase, heading to the exit of the building. Before he could get there, however, the door opened and Jason appeared. The optio closed the door and stood in front of it, blocking his way out.

"Move," said Percy.

"Not until you talk to me," he said.

"Move!" Percy repeated, more forcefully this time.

"No."

Percy attempted to shove past the optio, but was met by a painful shock that caused him to jump back. Jason continued looking at him determinedly.

Even more irritated now, Percy tried to get past his cousin again but was thrown back by a small bolt of lightning. He wound up on his back, blinking furiously after the brightness of the attack. Percy was angry now as he returned to his feet.

"Stop and talk to me or I'll shock you again," said Jason.

Percy wanted to fight back, but the metallic taste in his mouth made him decide that humoring Jason was the easier course of action.

"Fine," he said.

"Why haven't you talked to Reyna?"

Percy didn't answer for a moment. "I killed a man, Jason."

"We've all had to make tough choices."

"I killed someone I once would have given my own life for."

"Are you saying he didn't deserve it?"

"Of course not."

"Look. I'm aware what happened was horrible, but you need to stop pushing away your friends. We just want to help you. Talk to Reyna."

"I will. Eventually."

"It'd better be soon. You don't want her mad at you."

Percy just nodded. Jason told him to get on with his duties and before he knew it, the entire day blitzed by. He was back in his cell after having spent another day having avoided talking to Reyna.

That night he dreamt he was back in the bloodstained field again. This time, there were a lot of people lined up there. He approached them and the first turned to face him. He drew his sword and cut them down, then the next showed their face. He killed them too, and didn't stop no matter how much he wanted to. Everyone he knew and cared for from the rebellion faced him and fell by his hand before he awoke with guilt gripping at his heart even though he knew the nightmare wasn't real.

Percy learned the hard way exactly how long he could lie down while extremely exhausted without falling asleep. He wanted to sleep; he wanted to escape for just a few hours, but he simply couldn't.

He finally pulled himself up so he was sitting on the edge of his cot after he heard footsteps approaching. He rubbed his eyes and expected to see Jason standing outside his cell, but it was Reyna instead.

"Percy," she said, her tone sympathetic yet stern.

"Hey," he greeted, trying to sound casual.

She waited for him to say more for a few seconds before realizing he wasn't going to. "I've been giving you the space you need to cope, but I can't stand idly by while you continue with your borderline self-destructive behavior anymore."

"I'm fine," he lied.

"Really? You look miserable. How much sleep have you been getting?"

"Enough. And I said I'm fine."

"Percy —"

He got to his feet and approached the bars. "I'm fine!" he said. "So stop worrying about me."

She looked at him with sad eyes. "You don't need to go through this alone," she whispered. They were really close to each other now, but separated by the bars.

"Yes I do," he said, refusing to meet her eyes.

She looked like she had more to say, but, after a silence, decided to accept his decision and walked away.

He waited long enough for her to be long gone before following her path out of the building. Once in the open air of the castrum, he looked to the mess hall where a plateful of food would be waiting for him before turning his sight on the praetorium. He began walking toward it, having made up his mind that he was done waiting.

He strode purposefully through the building until he reached Marcus's office and knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before it opened, revealing the legatus himself.

"What do you want, _legionnaire_?" he asked, saying the last word as if it put a sour taste in his mouth.

"Let me go after them," said Percy.

"Who?"

"The rebellion. Let me hunt them down."

"Oh, sure. Right away," he said sarcastically. "I do that and I'll never see you again. You'll likely join up with them again and laugh about your little stunt at the meeting."

Percy took a deep breath. No matter how angry the legatus's words made him, he couldn't let himself take the bait. "Gallio saw the massacre first hand. He saw me kill one of the murderers. What more can I do to gain your trust?"

"Nothing short of going back in time so you never join the rebellion in the first place."

"Sir —"

"Gallio has his own men tracking them down. What more can you bring to the table?"

"I know them. I can find them faster than Gallio's men can. The sooner they're taken care of, the less likely they are to recuperate and attack again."

"The rebellion is out of my legion's territory. Gallio has the situation under control now that their forces have dwindled and they no longer hold a fortified base. I don't see how this is worth my resources to combat."

"Then you're not seeing clearly," Percy said, not able to contain his anger anymore.

"Excuse me?"

"The rebellion is made up of demigods and is led by a cunning and determined man. He won't rest until he gets what he wants. Let me stop them."

"Gallio _will_ stop them. Now watch your tongue, legionnaire, before you say something you'll regret."

"So you're not going to do anything? You're just going to have us sit back while a band of powerful murderers is out there, plotting the downfall of your nation?"

"I said _watch your tongue_, boy," Marcus hissed.

"Just because you're too afraid to face them in battle doesn't mean your soldiers are."

"Speak another word and your entire century will face punishment," Marcus warned.

Percy had a lot more he wanted to say, but that shut him right up.

"Go down to the first cohort's castrum and clean their stables. You aren't to leave until my primus pilus is satisfied with your work. When you return, expect your centurion to have extra patrols and watches for you for the next week. Then you might reconsider before being disrespectful to your superiors in the future." He waved his hand, motioning that he was dismissed.

Fuming, Percy marched out of the praetorium and then out of the castrum. He knew he'd gone too far, but that man could be so infuriating. Did the idiot _want_ the rebels to roam free and come back with more forces?

He sighed and tried not to think about the legatus he absolutely loathed. He had a stable to clean — a task which he'd prefer right now to spending another second in that man's presence.

* * *

The sun was getting low by the time he returned to his own castrum. His eyes settled on the prison building where he could go and rest, but his feet carried him to the training grounds. Once there, however, he found it occupied by a lone centurion.

Reyna had two swords in hand and was practicing strikes and maneuvers. He stood there and watched her for a time before she noticed him and stopped. She approached him, sweat gleaming on her face.

"I heard what happened," she said. "You shouldn't have lost your temper."

"I know that," he said crossly.

"Percy, I think he has a point."

"Oh, so you're siding with _him_ now?"

"No, never. I just meant that Gallio's men are fully capable, and maybe it's for the best you take some time for yourself after what happened."

"I don't need time," he spat. "I need them to pay!"

"Percy —"

"I'm going after them with or without Marcus's permission."

"That's suicide! Marcus won't forgive desertion and disobedience. And unlike that other deserter we had recently, Marcus will send his best men to hunt you down."

"I don't care!"

"Percy! Please, stop and think for a minute. I'm responsible for your actions. You leave and I'll be the one paying. Is that what you want?" There was a bit of fury in her own voice now, too.

He stopped and looked at her. She was right. He hated it, but she was right.

"Fine," he said. "I'll just stay here, then. Take some time to myself while they're out there, taking Zeus knows how many more innocent lives."

"This isn't the right time to lose your head," she said and placed her hand on his arm, but he shook it off.

"Right," he said resentfully. He just turned and marched away from her to his cell.

"Wait, that's not what I —"

He tuned her out and continued on his path. Once in his lonely little cell, he removed his armor and lay in his cot. It took some time, but he eventually fell asleep. In his dreams, he was back in the bloodstained field, but the person he killed that night before waking up way too soon was Reyna.

* * *

Connor.

_Thwack!_

Travis.

_Thwack!_

Katie.

_Thwack!_

It was rather warm out, two days following his last conversation with Reyna. He'd returned to his new hobby of ruthlessly attacking a dummy on the training grounds while remembering those he'd failed. The past two days it was all he'd done when he didn't have responsibilities to fulfill. Today was a free day. That normally would've made him happy, but not anymore. These days it just meant that he had less to distract himself with.

Lee.

_Thwack!_

He'd avoided Jason and Reyna as much as possible. Reyna had given up after a couple more attempts of trying to talk to him, and he suspected she was mad at him now too. Jason was continuously trying to get him to slow down and talk which was extremely annoying. Neither of them understood. They could never understand.

Castor.

_Thwack!_

Clarisse.

_Thwack!_

There were so many things he could have done differently to prevent this from happening. He could have directly confronted Luke about what he was becoming instead of turning tail and fleeing. He could have tried to convince the demigods a lot sooner to abandon their cause. He could have stayed with the rebellion longer to try and influence their actions. He could have complied with Reyna's demands when she held him prisoner in Carthage, bringing the rebellion to a much swifter end.

Michael.

_Thwack!_

Hindsight didn't help him, though. He'd made his choices and the only thing he could do now is repent for them. All he could do is kill every last one of the treasonous bastards that had pretended to be his family. When he'd actually be allowed to go and do that, he didn't know. So for now, he just trained.

Will.

_Thud._

He wiped sweat off his brow and stared disapprovingly at his sword arm after the meager blow. It was blurry. He blinked and it came back into focus. He tightened his grip and swung at the dummy again.

_Thwack!_

Clovis.

_Thwack!_

He _had_ to go after them. Why couldn't they just see that? Why couldn't Marcus just get his head out of his ass and let him bring them to justice? Why did Reyna have to guilt him into staying put? Gallio's men wouldn't know where to begin to look. It had to be _him_.

Pollux.

He looked down and was surprised to see his arm hanging to his side, unmoving.

"Pollux," he muttered.

His sword still didn't touch the dummy. When did it get so hot out here? His vision went blurry and he stumbled, but he caught himself. He blinked the dummy back into focus but it didn't last. Maybe he should take a break and sit down for a bit.

Of course, as he thought that, he fell over and his vision went black.

Percy awoke with his head pounding. He was laying on something comfortable that he guessed was a proper mattress and his head was elevated by a plump pillow. It took a second for his eyes to adjust, but when he looked around he realized this was Reyna's quarters. The centurion herself sat behind her desk, poring over a book without looking up.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and noticed his right pant leg was rolled up to his knee and he had a bandage wrapped around his lower leg, but it didn't feel injured. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and was about to stand up when Reyna suddenly noticed he was awake and rushed over to him.

"Stop," she said. "You need your rest."

Reluctantly, he continued to just sit and looked up at her stern expression. "What happened?" he asked.

"You fainted," she answered with a reprimanding tone, but he could tell she was worried about him. "From overexertion. This is why we were concerned. This is why we wanted you to slow down and take a moment to think clearly before something like this happened."

"It was just a little hot out," he said without meeting her eyes.

"Percy —"

"I told you I'm fine!"

"You're anything but. Percy, please. I. . ." She stopped herself before she said whatever she was going to. "I refuse to let you destroy yourself. Let me help you."

"I don't need help." He wanted her to stop. He needed her to just stop talking and let him leave.

"Don't you see what you're doing to yourself?"

"I'm fine!" he yelled. She took a step back at his tone and he felt guilty. He got to his feet, but a wave of nausea instantly dropped him down to one knee. "I'm sorry," he muttered, with his head bowed and his eyes closed.

Then she was there, on her knees, right in front of him. He looked at her and saw a look of pure caring in her eyes that made everything shatter. Images flashed through his mind. He vividly heard the sickening noise of his sword entering Ethan and saw his one fearful eye. He smelled the smoke from the flames of the massive burning pyre that he placed dozens of his lifeless friends upon. He saw Aulus lying face down in a pool of his own blood with a dagger buried in the back of his neck. He saw the crimson field that haunted his dreams and remembered the betrayed look in Reyna's eyes when he killed her.

Then it ended and the Reyna that knelt before him wasn't dead and didn't look betrayed. She just looked sad and worried. He couldn't stop the tears from leaking from his eyes now that the emotions had all finally come to the surface. He looked to the floor shamefully for only a moment before Reyna's arms were suddenly wrapped around him.

He sat there in shock for a few seconds before leaning into the embrace, resting his head on her shoulder as he held her in a hug and let the tears flow free. "I'm sorry," he whispered again.

For a long time, they held each other, even after his eyes had run dry. For a long time, they just stayed there in complete silence, enjoying each other's warmth. It was the deepest level of intimacy he'd felt in a while and it was exactly what he needed at that moment.

When they finally pulled apart, he smiled for the first time since before the massacre. She made him talk and he did so. He told her what he'd been feeling and why he'd been pushing himself so hard. He tried to tell her he was responsible for everything that happened and she made him understand that that was ridiculous, despite the feeling of guilt never going away.

Once everything was out in the open and he started feeling better, Reyna explained that Jason had stopped to watch him when he was hacking at the dummy on the training grounds. Percy had fainted — whether it was from lack of sleep, the heat, or just plain exhaustion, he didn't know — and his sword landed on his leg, cutting a thin gash into it that wasn't too deep. Once Jason saw him collapse, he picked him up and carried him to Reyna's room where she let him rest on her bed and tended to the cut. Percy hadn't realized how much his behavior was affecting his friends, but he was grateful to them both all the same.

They talked for a long time. She got him to agree to slow down for a bit and take some time to work through things before they'd worry about the rebellion. He didn't feel good about letting them roam free, but he was glad to have some more time with Reyna. He'd been behaving irrationally the past week and needed to make it up to her.

When he finally noticed that he was feeling tired, the sky had already been dark a while. Reyna told him to just sleep in her bed for the night. Reyna offered to sleep on the floor and after some sheepish back and forth, they both eventually laid down next to each other, awkwardly avoiding touching one another until they both fell asleep.

He didn't dream of the crimson field that night.


	18. XVII

With his muscles straining, Percy lowered himself until his nose was almost touching the ground before pushing himself up again. Thirty, he counted. He did five more pushups before sparing a glance upward. Reyna was watching him intently from behind her desk, the letter she had been writing having been pushed aside and her inkwell corked. Noticing this, he returned to his feet.

"Finished?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered, although she looked disappointed that he'd stopped.

"Do you think they'll go for it?"

"I do."

"What if they side with Marcus?"

"They won't."

"They could. Gallio's renown precedes us. They could have no problem believing he has the situation under control."

"The senators are a lot more sensible than Marcus, Percy. They're the ones who made me centurion and the ones who voted to let you join the legion. They'll make the right choice." He could hear a hint of uncertainty in her voice, despite her optimistic words.

"Maybe."

"We won't know until the Senate meets again."

"I hate waiting," he muttered.

"It doesn't seem like we have much of a choice."

He didn't reply.

Likely realizing she needed to take his mind off of it, she said, "I suppose we can come up with a way to pass the time."

"Oh yeah?"

"Unless you'd rather just stand there, I suggest you finally come over here and kiss me." Her cheeks began to glow brighter, counteracting the confidence in her words.

He grinned. He found it adorable how she still blushed every time the subject of any form of intimacy came up. "As you wish, centurion," he said with mock formality.

She rolled her eyes but smirked as he approached. She was standing by the time he reached her and readily cupped his face in her hands the second he leaned in, and then their lips met. It didn't take too long after that for her tongue to find its way into his mouth.

As the kiss deepened, one of his hands contently rested on her waist while the other ran up her back. He pulled her closer to him so their bodies were pressed right up against each other. Their lips separated and they stared at one another for a moment. He saw a pleading look in her eyes and then went down to her neck, placing kisses on it as her soft breathing met his ears. After a time, he made his way back to her mouth and gave her one last kiss before pulling away from her.

Their eyes met and Percy's heart fluttered as he stared into her sparkling, onyx irises. She really was the most incredible woman he'd ever met, he realized. Why had it taken so long for their paths to cross? He made a silent prayer to Aphrodite that their paths would never diverge.

Reluctantly he tore his eyes away from her and glanced out the window, seeing very little sunlight outside. "It's getting late," he told her.

"You don't have to leave," she said. "You can stay here."

He nodded. That was exactly what he wanted to hear. That one night that they shared the same bed after his embarrassing emotional breakdown was one of the best in recent memory. He'd woken up closer to her than he'd been when he'd fallen asleep and found his hand in hers. He'd forgotten the luxury of a really pleasant night's rest until then.

She took his hand in hers and slowly backed away from where they were standing, leading them closer to the bed. He realized what she was implying and his heart started beating faster.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked nervously.

"I am," she said. "I'm ready. I mean. . . only if you are."

He smiled encouragingly, then joined their lips again once they reached the bed. Not long after, they both fell into it, their clothes suddenly beginning to disappear.

* * *

"I don't believe you," said Percy.

"What's hard to believe?" Jason asked.

"You said you were ten."

"Yes."

"And you killed a laistrygonian."

"Yes," Jason said, as if he were still waiting for him to get to the point.

"And it was full-grown?"

"Of course."

"How in Hades do you kill a laistrygonian at ten years old?"

"It was pretty scary at the time," he admitted. "But I managed to stun it with lightning and then stabbed it in the face with my imperial gold spear."

"That's all it took?"

"Yeah. Why? What was _your_ first monster?"

"The Minotaur," he answered, before returning the focus back to Jason. "Where did you even _get_ an imperial gold spear?"

"It was a gift."

"From whom?"

Jason fidgeted. "It's a long story."

"We've got time."

"No, we don't." Jason pointed ahead of them where the castrum stood. They were about a minute away from reaching it.

"Damn."

"Another time," he said. "Now about that Minotaur."

"Yeah?"

"What were you doing fighting that thing? Doesn't it stick to the labyrinth?"

"Usually," he said. "But it was when I was about twelve, right when Daedalus found me. Minos had sent the thing to try and kill him."

"King Minos?"

Percy nodded.

"I thought he was dead?"

"His ghost was still powerful and relentless. He's a judge of the dead now, down in the Underworld."

"Oh. So how did you kill it?"

"Daedalus told me how. Once it picks up momentum it can't really stop or turn, so I dodged out of the way last second and it rammed into a tree. Its horn broke off and I used it to stab him."

"You killed the Minotaur with its own horn."

"Yep."

Jason whistled, impressed.

They entered through the castrum gate, marking the end of their patrol, and made their way past the other legionnaires going about their duties. They were about to head to the training grounds when they saw Marcus speaking with someone in front of the praetorium. The man wore centurion's armor adorned with a red cape over one shoulder. He was Lucius Cato, Marcus's primus pilus. Percy had only met him once when he'd been tasked with cleaning the first cohort's stables, and he was about as fond of him as he was Marcus.

"What's he doing here?" Jason wondered aloud.

Percy shrugged.

The primus pilus spotted them and then jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, beckoning them to go over there.

"Probatio, legionnaire," Marcus grunted when they approached, giving Percy a scowl for good measure.

"Did you need something from us, legatus?" Jason asked.

"Oh, sure," Cato said sarcastically, his voice a dull drawl. "Ignore me. I'm not even here."

Was the man a child?

"Apologies, primus pilus," Jason said dutifully.

Cato just rolled his eyes. "Yes, we do have need of you, although we're loath to admit it."

"We were about to send for you," said Marcus. "But now we're just waiting on _the woman_."

Percy's eyes narrowed, but he didn't comment. He'd learned the hard way that angering Marcus wasn't a good idea, and he had a sneaking suspicion that cleaning the stables had been a rather generous punishment for him.

After a short time, Reyna finally appeared from the training grounds and walked over to them, apparently having been summoned. She stopped before them and greeted her superior officers. Marcus gave her a venomous glare which she returned with an innocent look.

"The Senate has decided to overrule my decision to leave the rebellion in Gallio's more than capable hands," he growled. He seemed to be waiting for someone to confess, but when no one did, he continued. "They want me to send the Greek after them with a party the size of my choosing."

"My century would be more than willing to go," Reyna volunteered.

"No," Marcus said flatly. "Too many soldiers bring too much attention. The demigod will go alone."

"Um," Percy spoke up. "Could I at least have Jason?" He wanted to say Reyna, but he knew he couldn't separate a centurion from her century.

"No. I'm only sending _you_ because the Senate forced my hand. 'A party the size of my choosing' means I get to choose to send a party of one."

"At the very least," said Cato. "You are a demigod, so it can be believed that you're equal to the rebels' power. But we're not sending any of our soldiers on a suicide mission against such dangerous enemies."

Jason and Reyna exchanged a meaningful look and an unspoken agreement passed between them. Jason turned his eyes to the officers and said, "We're demigods too."

"Oh really?" said Cato. "How convenient."

"It's true," said Reyna. "We swear it. My mother is Bellona and his father is Jupiter."

"Jupiter?" Marcus said disbelievingly. "What a lie. My predecessor is your father, boy."

"That's not my birth father," said Jason. "I'm a bastard. My mother married him years after she had me with Jupiter."

"Am I just supposed to believe that your father is the king of the gods?" Marcus asked.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting _boom_ sounded overhead and a massive bolt of lightning shot through the relatively cloudless sky. Both Marcus and Cato looked up in surprise before staring at Jason in awe, who actually had tiny sparks dancing around his eyes.

A long silence ensued, before finally being broken by Marcus saying, "Arellano. You're demoted."

"What?" she, Percy, and Jason said at the same time, outraged.

"Don't act surprised," he said. "This was a long time coming. Multiple times you've gone over my head to get what you want and your century's performance has never been equal to the others in your cohort."

That's a lie, Percy thought.

"Now that I've learned you've been lying to me throughout the entirety of your career, the senators won't be able to fight my choice."

"That's not fair!" she protested.

"Don't talk to me about fair, Arellano. Now watch your tone else you face a punishment worse than demotion."

Percy had never seen her look so furious. She looked just about ready to kill Marcus then and there. Honestly, the look she gave him was so dangerous that it made Percy a little nervous, but she heeded the Legatus's warning and kept her mouth shut.

"Well I suppose these three legionnaires can go after the rebels, then," said Cato with that annoying drawl of his. He looked as if what had just happened was the most amusing thing he'd ever seen.

"What?" said Marcus, turning to his primus pilus in surprise.

"If they're all demigods and don't have a century to lead," Cato explained, "then that makes them both capable and expendable. There's no reason not to send them."

Marcus didn't look like he agreed with that statement in the slightest, but couldn't seem to come up with a valid argument against it. His options were to either take back Reyna's demotion or let her go on the mission. Percy could tell both ideas were abhorrent to him. Looking very unhappy, he said, "Fine. They can go."

"Excellent. If I have your leave, I can stand in as their century's centurion until we can find someone better suited to the role. My optio can easily handle my own for a while."

Marcus didn't answer him for a moment, apparently deep in thought. "Yes," he finally said absentmindedly. "That'll work. Come speak with me in my office."

"Right away."

Marcus stalked into the praetorium, for some reason not even taking the time to look boastful about his triumph. Cato stayed behind only long enough to tell them to report to him in the morning as that's when they'd be departing.

"_Malakas,_" Percy muttered disdainfully, staring at the doorway the two officers had disappeared through. Then he looked to his new traveling companions and tried to get Reyna's attention, but she marched away furiously. He made to go after her, but Jason caught his arm and held him back.

"Give her some time to process," he said. He could tell his cousin was suppressing his own resentment.

* * *

The demigod trio walked away from Rome on foot, not having been granted to leave to take horses. Percy supposed that was just a form of petty spite against them from Marcus for going over his head to the Senate.

"What is wrong with just a shoulder strap?" Percy asked. Currently, he held a pole balanced over one shoulder, at the end of which a satchel and some other items were tied. This was called a sarcina and was standard for foot travel in Rome. Percy found it very awkward to carry.

"What do you mean?" Reyna asked, confused.

"Why bother with this stupid pole? Why not just shove everything in a bag and sling it over your shoulder?"

"That hardly sounds any different."

"It'd free up a hand."

"And weigh down your arm. What if there's a fight? You'd lose valuable time untangling that from your shoulder. With this, we can easily just drop it and it's out of the way instantly."

Percy thought about it for a moment. "I suppose you have a point."

He walked with Jason at his side, who didn't have a comment on the matter, while Reyna walked a few paces ahead of them. Percy studied her, as if her back might give away any information as to how she was feeling.

He didn't know how she was taking the whole demotion thing. Other than a resentful look at Cato before he sent them off or whenever Marcus's name was mentioned, she acted as if it hadn't even happened. She naturally took the lead when they departed and was distracting herself from acknowledging what had happened by focusing on the task at hand, which he couldn't really blame her for. After all, it'd been similar to how he reacted to what had happened at the meeting.

Percy couldn't help feeling a little guilty. They had given up their secret so they could go with him on the mission to support and keep an eye on him, which gave Marcus a valid reason to strip them of their ranks. He'd have been fine going on his own, but he didn't get a chance to communicate that before the deed had already been done.

Percy glanced at Jason. Since optios were handpicked by their centurions, Reyna's demotion meant he had been demoted as well. Despite that, the son of Jupiter looked angrier for her than himself. Being an officer wasn't as important to him — although he was very good at it — whereas Reyna was born to lead.

"Where do you think we'll find them?" Jason asked.

"I'm not sure," Percy admitted. "If I were them, I'd take a boat and sail for Macedonia as soon as possible if I were retreating. It'd be the safest place for them to take some time and regroup. But if they intend on striking again any time soon they might just stick close to Neapoli and Capua. The best chance we've got is to continue heading to where. . . where it happened and go from there."

Jason nodded.

Percy glanced at the sun. They'd been walking for a couple of hours now. His feet were starting to get sore. He considered asking Reyna to stop so they could take a break, but just then an arrow flew through the air and landed at their feet. He dropped his sarcina and drew his sword, pointing it in the direction the arrow had come from and his companions did the same.

"Halt!" Reyna ordered. "Whoever you are, drop your bow and show yourself."

Movement appeared in the trees. Percy gripped his sword tighter as he watched a figure emerge, and then he dropped it in utter shock. Trotting up to them with his bow slung over his shoulder and hands raised was a middle-aged man with long brown hair and a beard to match, but from the waist down he was a white stallion.

"Ch-Chiron?" Percy stammered out, in complete shock.

"Hello, Perseus," said the centaur.

"You're a centaur," Jason said with awe, quite pointlessly.

"Chiron?" Reyna said with recognition in her voice.

"Come," his old trainer instructed. "We have much to discuss."

* * *

Chiron led them through the trees to a small clearing where a cozy little camp had been set up. There was a campfire, over which hung a large kettle filled with stew. There were some logs surrounding the campfire for seating and a tall tent to the edge of the clearing, underneath of which was a pile of straw, presumably for Chiron to sleep on. To the edge of the small camp was a stack of canvas and sticks as well as some other supplies.

"Please take a seat," said Chiron. "Are you hungry? It should be about done by now."

They nodded as they sat down, Percy claiming the log next to Reyna.

Chiron found some bowls and spoons and proceeded to dish out the stew for them. Percy took his gratefully and blew on a spoonful to cool it down before shoving it into his mouth. It tasted amazing.

"So, you're _the _Chiron?" Reyna asked, after taking a bite of her own. "The one who trained those Greek heroes like Achilles and Hercules?"

"Yes," Chiron answered while spooning some of the stew into his own bowl. "Although I knew him as Heracles."

"Chiron," Percy said, his impatience getting the better of him. "Where have you _been_?"

The centaur sighed. "It is a long tale that I've been dreading having to repeat."

"We have time."

"I know, child. I'm just not sure where to begin."

"How about with why you disappeared?"

"No. It starts much sooner than that. I suppose I should start at the end of the war."

"Between Rome and Greece?"

"Yes." He took a deep breath. "After the Greek city-states fell and Rome enacted its policies upon them, worship for the Greek gods dropped dramatically. They began to weaken and then eventually, one by one, they fell into an indefinite slumber."  
Percy opened his mouth to ask a question, but Chiron held up a hand to silence him.

"Please. Wait for me to finish. Anyway, Athena saw what was happening sooner than most of the other gods. She called upon her least favorite yet most capable son, Daedalus. Long ago, she'd cursed him with immortality as punishment for crimes he's been trying to repent for all his life, and because she knew that one day she'd need him.

"When the gods started to fall, Athena told Daedalus to gather all the demigods he could find and train them so they could one day save the Greek gods from their predicament. She knew it was the only way. Eager to serve in any way he could to make up for his past mistakes, Daedalus was obedient with her wishes and began searching for the gods' children. He found a few before our paths crossed and we joined forces. We set up a camp in the safest place we could think of and guided the demigods there.

"We continued searching. Daedalus took to the lands south of the Mare Nostrum and I searched the lands north of it. It took many years but eventually, we'd found every demigod we could sense. We started training you all, having discussed that we'd withhold the information about the gods until you were ready for it. This was our biggest mistake."

Chiron looked sadly at his bowl for a moment before eating another spoonful. After a short silence, he continued. "Tragedy struck when Daedalus was tricked by the ghost of Minos into believing there was another demigod in Carthage. He departed immediately, just to be captured and delivered in chains to Rome where he was executed for treason without a trial. I can only assume that Athena's curse faded after she fell asleep.

"When we received the news, you were all justifiably outraged. Poor, young Luke was handed the reigns of leader and from that day forth, the demigods' purpose was to get vengeance upon Rome. It was all I could do to convince you all to wait. I considered telling you all the truth but knew it'd only serve to upset you more at that point. I still had to try and do something, though, so one day I spoke with Luke in private and told him everything.

"It wasn't until then that I knew how broken he was inside — how much his mother's insanity and his beloved Thalia's death had affected him. He told me he didn't care the gods were in danger of fading from existence. He said they deserved it for sitting back while Rome conquered Greece. He said that once he was finished, he'd march the largest army the world has ever seen into Olympus and claim the city for himself."

He shook his head and put his bowl of stew down, having barely touched it. His eyes were filled with greater sadness than Percy had ever seen.

"The Fates showed themselves to me. They said the events that would come were set in stone and could not be changed. I knew most of the demigods would lose their lives, and was completely helpless to stop it. I couldn't save them, so I ran when it became too difficult to stay. It was only after the recent treachery that I started watching them again."

The centaur went quiet, and Percy knew the story was over. He tried to process all the information, but there was just too much and he had too many questions. He didn't know which he should ask first. Before he could decide, Reyna spoke up instead.

"Why did you keep specifying 'the Greek gods'?" she asked.

"Well the Roman gods were unaffected, of course," Chiron answered, is if it'd been obvious.

"What are you saying?" said Percy. "The Roman and Greek gods aren't the same?"

"Oh, no. The Greek and Roman gods are two completely separate pantheons. Zeus and Jupiter are two different gods, as are Poseidon and Neptune, Hades and Pluto, et cetera."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Jason.

"And why not?"

"Jupiter overthrew his father, Saturn, after he ate his other children, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, Ceres, and Vesta. Jupiter grew up and then made Saturn throw up his siblings and together they overthrew him, and that's how they became the Olympians."

"Why do you celebrate that guy again?" Percy asked. Saturnalia seemed a very strange tradition in his mind.

Jason ignored him. "Is that not the same tale the Greeks have?"

"It is very much similar, yes."

"How can the same exact things happen at the exact same time in different places? It doesn't make any sense. How can Saturn have the same children Kronos has, who go and overthrow him in the same way?"

"You ask a complex question, child. The first thing you need to know to understand the answer to it is that human belief is a very powerful thing. The Greek gods did come first, of course, and the mortals learned the tales and spread them throughout their culture. When Rome started to grow in power, they adopted the same tales and altered them, and soon all Romans believed they were true. Their belief is responsible for them being real."

"So. . . they just popped into existence one day?" Percy asked.

"No. The second thing you need to know is that time is malleable. The Romans believed the events happened in the past, so they _did_ happen in the past. In this way, the Roman gods were there at the same time as the Greek gods even though the belief in them wouldn't come for a long time to follow. And because the Roman gods were there for the birth of Rome, they were responsible for the birth of their people's beliefs."

"This is so confusing."

"Indeed. Only the gods themselves can fully understand it."

"So what you're saying," said Reyna, "is that the Roman gods only exist because the Romans believed they did, but also because the Roman gods were always there to be believed in in the first place?"

"In essence."

"This really doesn't make any sense at all."

"To the mortal mind, perhaps not."

Percy couldn't wrap his mind around it, and judging by his friends' faces he guessed they were struggling with it just the same. Deciding to change the subject to something less confusing, Percy said, "What about the Fates? You said they spoke to you."

"Ah, yes. The Fates do not belong to either one pantheon. There are three Fates only, and they act for both the Roman gods and the Greek. So they did not suffer the same fate as the Greek gods, pardon the pun."

"And they told you what was going to happen."

"Not explicitly. Only the basics."

"But why couldn't you do anything? You could have told us. We could have prevented all of this."

"Do not dream of fighting destiny, child. The Fates are wiser than you can ever know. The events they see _will_ come to fruition, no matter what."

"I'm going to stop him, though. I _have _to stop Luke, and the rest of them."

"Do you mean stop? Or kill?"

Percy hesitated. "Whatever is necessary."

Chiron sighed. "Perseus, Luke has gone down an irredeemable path, as have those who follow him. I don't want to see you go down it too."

Percy didn't say anything in response.

"Do you know where they are?" Jason asked.

"I'm afraid I do."

"Where?" Percy asked.

"Percy, I will tell you, but I need you to make me a promise."

"What promise?"

"Don't let yourself be consumed by vengeance. It's happened to so many great heroes before you. It happened to Luke. Promise me that, when the time comes to make a choice, you'll do what you need to do rather than what you want to do."

Percy looked him in the eyes. "I promise," he said.


	19. XVIII

He awoke, feeling quite warm despite the late winter/early spring temperatures. With Reyna sleeping so close to his side, even the minimal protection their makeshift tent provided couldn't let in enough cold air to make him uncomfortable. Glancing over he saw her face tilted to the side with a few strands of hair resting against her closed eyes. He watched, momentarily transfixed, as she softly breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. He tried to sit up, but found his arm pinned beneath her back, and decided to just enjoy the moment a while longer and let her sleep.

Unfortunately, the moment didn't last all that long as she soon woke up too. She pushed herself into a sitting position which allowed Percy to free his arm from under her and use it to affectionately brush the hair off her face. She smiled and then leaned in to kiss him. It was just a quick peck on the lips, as neither of their breaths likely smelled that great at the moment.

"I think we should get up," she said, although she didn't sound too enthusiastic about the idea.

"Yeah," he agreed dejectedly.

She got up and awkwardly exited the tiny tent Chiron had insisted they build out of his supplies and Percy followed a few seconds after.

The previous day they'd continued talking with Chiron for hours, asking him questions as well as telling their own tales. The time flew and the sun had set before they even realized it. Chiron insisted they stay the night and depart in the morning, even going so far as to lend them his canvas and sticks for tents.

Some time after waking up, they all sat around the unlit campfire eating cold provisions to break their fasts. They ate in silence until Percy took a long gulp of water from his canteen and spoke.

"So what do we do about the gods?" he asked. He'd been about to ask the question last night, but the sun had set before he got the chance. "The rebellion was supposed to save them, but that can't happen now. What do we do?"

"That is something we will discuss when next we meet," said Chiron.

"So we will meet again?"

"Of course. Once your task is complete, together we can interpret what the Fates want us to do."

The Fates. They were three old hags who apparently even Zeus feared. They could see and manipulate the future of the world and control the destinies of man. So when each and every demigod in the rebellion was born, they'd flipped a drachma and decided whether they'd be treacherous murderers or die after being betrayed by those they trusted. Needless to say, Percy wasn't saying any prayers to them any time soon.

"Percy, I have one more thing I must ask of you before you leave," said Chiron. The centaur's eyes darted to Reyna for only a moment before he continued. "It's about Annabeth."

Percy froze. He purposefully kept himself from looking at the woman who sat beside him as he said in a flat voice, "What about her?"

"She's still innocent. I know it to be true."

"How can you be sure? She's with _them_. She's surrounded by backstabbers, and she attacked our legatus."

"But she did not kill, did she? Love, child, is one of life's greatest pleasures, but it is also one of its greatest dangers. It makes us blind and clouds even the judgment of the brightest minds. She made choices she has to live with and mistakes she hasn't yet realized. Surely you can understand that from your own experiences?"

Percy said nothing, but he and Chiron both knew he was right.

"Right now she's a slave to her own mind and in the midst of enemies," the centaur continued. "Luke is manipulating her and toying with her head. If you get the chance, please save her. I'm begging you."

"Okay," Percy said. "I'll try." He knew Chiron loved Annabeth like she was his own daughter. He'd raised her for almost half her life.

Chiron smiled sincerely. "Thank you."

After just a little bit more time was spent getting ready, they departed from Chiron's campsite with a destination in mind. Last night the centaur told them that the demigods had found a secluded homestead east of Neapoli that had been abandoned since the war. They moved in, set up defenses, and claimed it for their own. Percy didn't know how long they planned on staying there, so he just hoped Reyna, Jason, and he could get there before they decided to pack up and leave.

The demigod trio walked together with their sarcinas resting against their shoulders on the same road that Percy felt was becoming way too familiar for his liking. After a while of trekking in silence, Jason seemed to notice Percy was deep in thought.

"Something on your mind?" he asked.

Percy took a second to decide how to answer. "All my life I thought my father didn't care about me. I believed he'd used my mother and tossed her and me aside once he was done with her."

"My dad has never spoken to me, but he answers my prayers from time to time. I know he's watching and that he cares. If yours was awake, he wouldn't ignore you."

"What if you're wrong? What if there _is_ something we can do to save the Greek gods from fading and he wakes up as the man I always thought he was?"

"He won't."

"How can you be so optimistic?"

"I don't know. Things just always have to work out in the end, don't they? What's the point of pushing forward if you don't believe there's something better ahead of you?"

Percy thought about that for a moment.

"It doesn't help when the 'something better' is taken away from you," Reyna spoke up bitterly.

Taking only a moment to comprehend what she was referring to, Percy said, "Marcus won't be legatus forever. And you won't be just a legionnaire forever."

"And _now_ you're optimistic," she commented with a smirk.

"Huh," he said. "I guess it's just easier to comfort other people than to comfort yourself."

"It's a good thing then that we all have each other, then."

They proceeded onward in higher spirits. The wind picked up and Percy could feel a lot more moisture in the air as the road veered ever so slightly closer to the coast. The trees started to thin and the road ahead was going to be mostly empty for a while. He glanced to the side and saw a flicker of movement in the bushes, but thought nothing of it. It was more than likely just an animal of some kind. Then a noise met his ears that he didn't fully comprehend, but his instincts took over and he rolled forward, but too late.

Percy cried out in pain and dropped to a single knee. He looked to his shoulder and saw the crimson-stained tip of an arrow sticking out of it, which might've hit his heart had he tried to dodge any later. He realized the noise he'd heard had been that of a bow being loosed.

Ignoring the pain, he returned to his feet while drawing his sword with his uninjured arm. Jason and Reyna already had their own weapons in hand and were standing between him and whoever had shot him.

More arrows flew but Reyna and Jason were quick enough to slice them out of the air with their blades. Jason was also using his control over the wind to throw the arrows off course. Realizing their efforts were fruitless, the attacker — no, _attackers_ — emerged from the trees and rushed at them with melee weapons in hand.

There were five of them. Four wore rather inexpensive looking armor with no helmets while the other, apparently the leader, wore a full set of very heavy armor that looked custom-forged. In his hands, he hefted a massive greatsword while his allies brandished spears and regular shortswords.

It suddenly started to rain as Percy prepared to defend himself. He was so grateful for the advantage that he didn't even take a second to wonder how it was now raining when the clouds had been so thin just a little bit ago.

Jason, who had his sword pointed skyward, lowered it, and met the leader in combat. The other four attackers gave the two a wide berth and continued forth. The two with the swords went for Reyna and the two with the spears thrust their weapons at Percy. Doing his best not to move his arrow-pierced shoulder too much, Percy deflected the attacks and retreated several steps to keep his distance.

They advanced. Percy wouldn't be able to defend against two polearms with only one hand on his sword, so he split them up. Using his powers over water, he manipulated the rain into a hard wall that slammed into one of his attackers while the other marched onward. Percy parried the first strike and didn't get a chance to counterattack before he had to parry the spear again.

Deciding he'd have to cheat again, he commanded the rain to slam the tip of the spear into the ground and then brought his sword down on the shaft; the weapon broke in half. Knowing the fight was lost, his attacker turned and ran back the way he came. The other one recovered and came for him, but Percy pulled the exact same trick, destroying his weapon and causing him to flee too.

Percy looked to his friends and found Reyna now assisting Jason with the brute, her two foes having been disarmed and knocked unconscious. The heavily armored man was a formidable opponent indeed. His greatsword, which Percy would barely be able to even lift, swung in wide arcs and came down hard, causing the other two demigods to have to go on the defensive.

"Surrender now, and we won't have to hurt you!" Jason said to the man.

All he did was laugh in response and swing his massive weapon again. Jason dodged out of the way and looked hesitant to attack.

Percy moved in to join them, but couldn't find any opening so just stood off to the side, waiting for the metal man to slip up. Unfortunately, the brute seemed to want Percy dead the most and turned his full attention to him. He brought his sword down in an overhead swing that Percy barely rolled out of the way of in time, his shoulder protesting painfully as a result. The sword slammed into the ground and came up again, but before the man could do another swing, he was struck in the back by something bright and he fell forward onto his face. He didn't get back up.

The rain stopped and Jason stood behind where the brute had been with his sword pointed forward like a crossbow. He was breathing heavily but he lowered his blade and dropped to the man's side. He removed his helmet before placing his fingers against his neck and then sighed with relief. "That was the weakest strike I could do. Was worried it might still be too much."

Now that the battle was won, Reyna rushed to Percy and went straight for the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. She carefully snapped the tip off of it and tossed it to the ground. "Hold still," she warned. Percy nodded and then she pulled the arrow free.

Percy winced at the pain, but didn't react any more than that.

"Sit," she ordered.

Percy obeyed as Reyna retrieved her sarcina from the ground and withdrew some supplies from it. She then returned to his side and began tending to his wound.

Percy glanced up and saw a relatively clear sky before looking at Jason. Realizing it must've been the lord of the heavens's son that created the rain for his sake, he said, "Thanks, cousin."

Jason nodded and picked up the discarded weapons from the ground.

"Wait," said Percy suddenly. "You're _not_ my cousin."

Jason looked at him thoughtfully. "Huh. I guess you're right."

Jupiter and Poseidon weren't related, which meant that Percy shared no blood with Jason. He hadn't realized that until now.

"I guess I don't need to take it so easy on you during training now that we're not family," Jason jested.

Once Reyna was finished treating his injury, his shoulder was wrapped in bandages and the pain died down. Honestly, the fact that Reyna cared so much about him was enough to make him feel better on its own.

Percy uncorked his canteen and took a big swig before looking to the three unconscious men, who'd been abandoned by their other two comrades. "What do we do about them?"

"Leave them," said Jason. "Without weapons, they'll have no choice but to retreat."

"Why'd they come for us, though?" Reyna asked, and then gestured at the heavily armored brute. "This one's armor is too expensive for him to be just a common bandit."

Jason tossed her a coin purse. She caught it and opened it. "These are drachmas," she said, holding up one of the coins.

"I found that on the big one," said Jason. "They're probably mercenaries. Could have been sent to kill us."

"And whoever hired them is Greek."

"Luke," Percy said quietly. "It had to be him."

The other two didn't say anything.

"Who else wants me dead that would pay in drachmas instead of denarii?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," said Reyna. "But we should get moving before they come to."

None of them wanting to lug the extra swords all the way with them, Jason opted to bury them away from the road where the assassins wouldn't be able to find them. The trio collected their sarcinas and continued onward at a brisk pace.

* * *

Over three days of traveling passed before they finally reached the place where _it_ had happened. Reyna had suggested they go around the meeting ground, but Percy insisted he could handle it, and avoiding it would cost them time they couldn't afford to lose.

Up ahead of them they could see the pile of ash where the pyre had been burnt as well as Gallio's eighth cohort's castrum. Also just barely visible were patches of dirt that indicated where the trenches had been filled back in. The temporary castrum that had been set up after the rebels took the real one was completely gone, looking as if it'd never even been there.

They closed the distance to the fortified structure by about halfway when a loud growling could be heard.

"Again?" said Percy. He dropped his sarcina and drew his sword as his companions did the same. They looked around but couldn't see the source of the noise.

Monsters are attracted to the scent of demigods and the scent is stronger the more powerful the demigod, which results in more monster attacks. Not only were they three demigods traveling alone and out in the open, but one was a son of Jupiter and the other was a son of Poseidon, so they'd faced quite a few monsters the past few days.

The growling stopped and Percy felt a tiny shiver at the sudden silence. Whatever it was, it was about to strike.

In an instant, a massive beast appeared seemingly from nowhere and pounced at them. The demigods scattered and formed a circle around it. The creature, which was roughly the size of a small building, had jet black fur and stood on four paws which had large, sharp claws protruding from them. It had glowing red eyes and drool dripping from its open mouth, which was lined with very pointy teeth.

"Hellhound," said Jason.

The beast turned toward his voice and snapped at him. Jason dodged backwards while Percy and Reyna took the opportunity to stab it in its flank. The hellhound howled and turned toward them, swiping with its front paw and causing them to retreat. The behemoth then jumped through the air straight toward Percy.

The smart thing to do here would have been to run away and try to make it vulnerable to attacks from his friends. Of course, this was _not_ what Percy did. Instead, he ran straight toward the beast and rolled right between its front legs as it landed, bringing his sword up and burying it hilt-deep into its underbelly. The monster exploded into golden dust, defeated.

"That was incredibly stupid," Reyna said to him while she sheathed her gladius.

Percy grinned, knowing she was secretly impressed by how great he looked while doing that.

"How's your shoulder?" she asked.

"Same as the last time you asked me," he said. "Barely feels injured anymore."

They took a moment to catch their breaths before continuing on. When they reached the ash pile, Percy froze while his friends looked at him cautiously. He ignored their looks of concern and approached what little remained of the friends he'd grown up with and then knelt before it with his head bowed.

The wind had scattered most of the ashes by now but an outline of where the funeral pyre had been was still clearly visible. After the living demigods had fled, Percy hadn't even needed to ask permission to lay them to rest as Marcus and Gallio had already barked orders to their men to start gathering wood. Percy had helped, of course, and then personally placed many of the demigods upon it. Before the pyre had been lit, every murdered demigod (Ethan included), as well as the fallen legionnaires from the castrum, were on top of it. Someone had spoken prayers but Percy hadn't been paying attention to them; he'd been too busy counting off names.

Not everyone had been there, though. Charles, Leo, and a couple of others were nowhere to be seen that day. They either had some other orders from Luke during the meeting or had realized what the rebellion really was and abandoned them beforehand. Percy wholeheartedly wanted to believe it was the latter. He wondered where they were now and what they were doing. Would he ever see them again?

Percy didn't know how long he knelt there, but once he felt he was done paying his respects he stood and turned to his friends who watched him sympathetically.

"Let's go," he said.

* * *

Another several days later, they arrived in Neapoli. The streets were less crowded and the buildings were generally less spectacular than in Rome, but it felt more homely to Percy. When in Rome, you were constantly aware that you were in the capital of the great Republic and it was kind of humbling in a way. Neapoli just felt like a regular, lively city filled with people you could just tell were happy and prospering.

"Gallio should be somewhere in this city," said Jason. "Do you think we should stop and speak with him?"

"No," Reyna answered. "We have nothing to report yet."

"And it'd probably offend him to hear Marcus sent us to take care of his problem for him," Percy added.

"It'd still be a good idea to report to him after our job is finished, though," Reyna suggested.

"Yeah. You're right. Let's just not linger here. We're not that far now."

They walked casually through the streets of Neapoli before Jason paused at an intersection.

"There's a market down that way," he said and pointed to the left. "We could stop and resupply."

"No," said Percy, a little too quickly.

Jason stared at him, bemused. "Why?"

"We're still good on provisions for a few more days," Percy answered dodgily. "Let's just go past it."

"But —"

"I agree with Percy," Reyna interrupted, seeming to notice his discomfort. "Let's just continue on."

A silence ensued as Percy avoided making eye contact with either of them. They began walking again and progressed farther into Neapoli.

"You've been here before?" Percy asked Jason, eager to get the attention off of himself.

"Yeah," he answered. "I used to live here for a while when I was younger, before I came to Rome and joined the legion."

Percy looked at him. "There's still so much I don't know about you."

"In time, cous — hmm. I wonder if I'll ever stop doing that."

"Why didn't you just join Gallio's legion?"

Jason hesitated. "Bad memories," he answered mysteriously.

Percy didn't inquire further.

Reyna suddenly stopped and then lowered her sarcina to the ground before removing an item from the satchel. She handed the coin purse of drachmas they'd retrieved from their attackers along the road to Jason. "We _could_ use some extra provisions," she said. "If you want, you could go to the market and purchase a few things and then meet us at the eastern gate."

Jason looked hesitant, but realized she wanted to be alone with Percy and nodded before heading off in the opposite direction.

The couple proceeded toward their destination in silence, with Percy contemplating what words to use and Reyna waiting patiently for him to open up as to what was on his mind. After some time, he decided to reveal the last part of his past she didn't know about.

"I grew up in Cyrene," he started. "The only family I had was my mother, who wasn't that well off, money-wise. She had a job in a marketplace, helping a wealthy merchant sell his wares. She earned only barely enough to feed and house us, but she was happy — _we_ were happy." He paused. "One night, she didn't come home. I snuck out and went down to the market where she worked and found blood — so much blood. I learned from the man she worked for that a brawl had broken out. Weapons were drawn, words were shouted, and deaths ensued. She was killed in the chaos."

"Percy —" Reyna started softly, but he cut her off.

"You don't need to say you're sorry. I made my peace with it a long time ago. It's just. . . markets sometimes bring the memories flooding back."

There was a short silence, which was broken when Reyna asked a question. "So, what did you do after you found out?"

"I ran," he said. "Got out of the city and ran. The sea called to me, so I stuck to the coast and made friends with some sea animals. They helped me survive and hide from monsters for a while until Daedalus found me and took me in."

"I'm glad he was there for you when you needed him."

"Yeah. Who knows what might have happened to me otherwise? And now I've failed him."

"You haven't failed him."

"His task was to train demigods to save the gods. He died before he could keep that promise, and now half the demigods are dead and the rest are as good as. I failed him."

"Chiron said we'd speak again soon. There's still hope."

"Yeah," he said halfheartedly. "Hope."

She took his hand in hers, and he couldn't help but smile as they proceeded to the city's exit.

* * *

Panting in a pile of golden dust, Percy sheathed his sword. "They're relentless," he said.

"There can't possibly be any more," Jason said hopefully.

Of course, he was wrong. A deep, echoed hissing sound could suddenly be heard. Percy looked in the direction of the noise and saw the grass moving ever so slightly. "Why would you say that?" he asked the son of Jupiter while drawing his sword again.

Jason shrugged guiltily. He raised his sword and held it at the ready.

As quick as lightning, the new monster shot from the grass toward Jason, who just barely reacted quickly enough to not get bitten by it. It was what appeared to be a regular viper, only much thicker and the length of three humans. It had yellow eyes that glowed like a flame and the front of its nose was raised up in a tiny horn, giving it a dragon-like appearance.

Jason stepped away from the snake's head, probably thinking if he kept it in sight he couldn't be surprised. Percy noticed too late to warn him otherwise. Suddenly, the snake's tail — or at least what should have been a tail — struck at his leg.

The viper had a head on either end of its body.

Luckily for Jason, the second head went for his leg where its teeth crunched on his metal greave. That head recoiled backwards in pain while the other went for Jason's neck angrily.

The son of Jupiter retreated so quickly it was as if the wind had carried him out of the snake's reach, which Percy realized it probably had.

While the serpent was distracted with Jason, Percy took the opportunity to bring his sword down on the snake's closest neck, slicing its head clean off. This only made the snake's remaining head angrier, as it turned its attention to Percy and shot toward him. Before he could even react, Reyna's sword came up and cut that head off while the creature was midair. Its headless body turned into golden dust just like all monsters and only its two lifeless heads remained as trophies.

"What was that thing?" Percy asked.

"Amphisbaena," Reyna answered. "Nothing too dangerous, although its bite kills almost instantly."

Percy shook his head in amusement. What lives they lead that a two-headed snake whose bite can kill you instantly was considered "not too dangerous".

Jason knelt down and checked his leg to make sure the snake's teeth had only connected with his armor before returning to his feet, satisfied he wasn't about to die.

"You'd think with two brains it'd be smart enough to not go up against three demigods at once," Percy commented.

"Only the ones that speak seem to have any semblance of intelligence," said Jason. "In my experience, even those creatures aren't very bright."

"Like laistrygonians?"

Jason nodded.

Not much need for decapitated snake heads, they began walking again, leaving the trophies behind for some other traveler to collect.

A warm breeze blew against Percy's skin, and he had a strange feeling. He turned and looked back at where the heads should have been, but they were somehow gone. Jason and Reyna noticed he'd stopped and looked at him curiously.

"Something wrong?" Reyna asked.

Percy didn't answer for a moment, then said, "Probably nothing." He continued forth with his companions.

They soon realized they didn't have much farther to walk, however, as not even half an hour passed before they spotted the forest Chiron had described to them. They looked at each other and then entered the trees while attempting to be as quiet as possible. The trio walked forward until they found the boulder Chiron had said to seek out and turned right. Soon after, they found a stone brick fence surrounding overgrown fields and a few large buildings constructed of marble and wood.

"This is it," said Jason.

Percy watched the building for a bit and saw movement behind one of the windows, and then noticed how dark the sky was. "Let's find a vantage point," he said. "We'll rest for a night and then strike in the morning."

"Okay," Reyna agreed.

Tomorrow, they'd confront Luke and the rest of the murderers. Unlike what he'd expected, dread filled his heart instead of excitement


	20. XIX

The homestead might've been a comfortable place to live once upon a time, but nowadays it looked cold and uninviting. It resided in the middle of a dense forest with a few tree stumps scattered here and there, proving that the clearing was man-made. The whole estate consisted of a withered field and some buildings surrounded by a stone brick fence, of which was no more than piles of rubble in many places. The largest building looked to have three floors and was constructed primarily out of wood, with a bit of marble here and there to add to its durability. Even the wealthiest people might've been happy living there back in its prime, but now it was overgrown with mold and had pieces falling out, giving it a very sad and weathered look.

The other buildings appeared to be a barn house, stable, and a few sheds.

A good distance away from the homestead the demigod trio had found a good section of trees on a small hill that hid them perfectly while the whole estate was still within their view. Presently, Percy sat upon a rock while studying every detail of the buildings and watching for any enemies. Both of his friends were asleep behind him, having reluctantly allowed him to volunteer for first watch.

At least, he _thought_ they were both asleep. He was proven wrong when he heard footsteps behind him, followed by the former optio appearing and leaning against a nearby tree.

"Don't trust me to keep watch?" Percy asked.

"Couldn't sleep," said Jason, although Percy knew that wasn't the truth. "How are you doing?"

"Better, when all this is said and done."

"Are you prepared?"

Percy didn't answer.

A warm breeze blew past him and he suddenly felt comfortable for some reason. Percy sighed and looked at the man he used to think was his cousin.

"I've never killed a man before Ethan," he said. "I never thought I'd have blood on my hands."

"Life is filled with tough choices," said Jason.

"It wasn't a choice. I didn't even hesitate. I was so. . . angry. And once he was dead, I felt nothing. No satisfaction, no sorrow, no guilt. I mean, it kept me up at night later, but then and there I didn't feel anything at all watching the life drain from his eyes. And the worst thing about it is that I know I'd do it again, in an instant."

"Death is ugly, but it's the way of things. One way or another, it lies at the end of all our roads."

"Death is ugly," Percy repeated with a smirk. "I had a friend who said that once. Her brother disagreed. He said death was beautiful, the way we all strive to reach Elysium but are so afraid of getting there."

"I think everyone's just afraid to find out whether they won't spend eternity in Elysium."

"That's what his sister said."

"Sounds like a pair of poets."

"They might have been. I wonder whether their philosophies hold up now that they're there themselves."

"You're talking about the children of Hades," Jason noted.

Percy nodded. "My actual cousins," he said.

Bianca and Nico had gone missing while out on a scouting mission, not long after the demigods officially began the rebellion. When Percy first joined the legion, he had asked around for any information on whether they'd been captured or killed, but found no answers. They either abandoned the rebellion and were now off living their own lives, or more likely, they'd been killed by monsters.

"Whatever happens tomorrow," said Jason, "please don't shut us out again."

"I won't," Percy said honestly. "Now get some sleep."

Jason didn't move.

"I promise I'll wake you for your watch."

Jason was still hesitant, but he nodded and walked away.

Percy returned his attention to the homestead, searching for any sort of weakness he could exploit or traps they would have to avoid. Tomorrow wouldn't be easy, but he was ready to face it so long as he had Reyna and Jason at his side.

* * *

Several hours after waking up, they sat around a map of the estate that Reyna had drawn in the dirt. It didn't have any of the interior, obviously, but it had all the information they could get from just eyeing it from a distance.

"Four entrances," said Reyna, pointing to each of them with a knife. "If we charge through any one of them, the rebels can easily escape through the rest."

"So what's your plan? Each take an entrance?" Percy asked.

"No," she replied. "That still leaves one exit they can take advantage of. If you and I go through these two —" she pointed to two of the entrances "— they won't be able to use them. And if Jason stands guard outside here —" she pointed to a spot away from the far corner of the building "— he can keep both of the other exits in sight at all times. The rebels will have nowhere to go but through us."

"True," Jason commented. "Good strategy, but are you sure it's wise to split up? They have the numbers on us."

"Yes, but we have the element of surprise. The more Percy and I can take out stealthily, the better our odds will be when they finally realize what's happening. Any cowards will attempt to flee and find you waiting for them and the rest will be divided between Percy and myself. We're more than capable of handling them."

"Present company excluded," said Percy, "Luke is the best swordsman I've ever known. Whomever he engages won't be able to hold up against multiple attackers."

"Then we'll just have to not get detected for as long as possible. This is our best option."

Percy didn't like it, but she was right. "This is going to be dangerous. Most of them don't have any powers worth singing songs about, but they're all natural-born fighters who've been training since childhood. These are going to be the toughest enemies we've ever faced."

"We'll win," Jason said confidently.

Reyna smiled, but Percy could see the nervousness in her face. "Are we all ready?"

"Yeah," said Percy.

Jason nodded.

"Take your positions," she ordered.

Jason took off and Percy was about to do so as well when Reyna stopped him.

"Wait," she said. She pulled a dagger out of her boot and flipped it, catching it by the blade and extending the handle toward him. "This'll serve better for stealth."

Percy stared at the blade for several seconds as if it were dangerous, then gingerly wrapped his fingers around the handle and tucked the knife into his belt. She gave him an encouraging smile and started to turn away when he pulled her into a quick kiss. She barely had time to react before he pulled away again.

"Don't get killed," he said, then jogged off.

Percy hid behind a section of the wall and waited until Reyna was in position too before sneaking toward the door. He saw no one in the windows so he had a straight shot to his destination. They'd scouted out the other buildings recently and found nothing in them, except for horses in the stable. Every rebel was in the big house, at least for now.

Once he was at the door, he put his back to the wall next to it and listened carefully for any signs of movement within. Just then, the door opened.

A man strode out without even noticing him. Percy, reacting quickly, lunged out and covered the rebel's mouth with his hand and drew the dagger. He held the point over his neck for a moment, before losing his resolve and using the handle to knock the struggling man unconscious. He lowered him down and leaned him against the wall before carefully peeking through the now open door.

Seeing no one, Percy entered as quietly as he could into a hallway. There were two doors to either side and one at the end that was partially open. Percy listened to the door on the right and then nudged it open. He found no one inside.

The other door had a single sleeping demigod in it and Percy decided to leave her be for now. He approached the last door in the hallway and peeked through the gap. He saw two demigods coming straight for him. Percy didn't have time to hide or do anything.

The door swung open and they stared at him with wide eyes for a moment. The closest one barely got his hand on his sword before Percy tackled him to the ground and knocked him out. Before he could get to the other one, she had an arrow nocked in her bow and shouted, "It's him! Percy's here!"

She didn't get the chance to draw the bow back. Percy swiped her legs out from under her and took her out too, but he heard footsteps coming from several directions. He sheathed the dagger and drew his sword.

He took a second to examine the room he was in while waiting for the rest of the rebels to reach him. He appeared to be in the house's main living area, with a staircase to his right, underneath of which was another hallway. To his left was the house's main entrance and ahead of him was yet another hallway.

The door underneath the staircase opened first, and Reyna appeared out of it. She looked at him grimly and then took a stance at his side with her gladius in hand. Seconds later, more rebels entered the room from the staircase and other hallway.

The sound of metal clashing against metal filled the room and the occasional _thump_ of a rebel being defeated and falling to the floor could be heard. Everything happened so fast that by the end of it, the only thing Percy could vividly recall was what _wasn't_ there: Luke and Annabeth.

The floor was littered with unmoving rebels, some breathing and some not. It'd been a much simpler fight than he'd anticipated. There'd been some magical demigod abilities, but none they couldn't handle. He looked around and realized there were a few other missing faces as well, but the only one that mattered to him was Luke.

Percy looked at Reyna who had a deep sadness in her eyes. The expression turned to worry as she stared at Percy.

"You're hurt," she said.

He'd taken a few hits during the fighting, but nothing he couldn't shake off. "Don't worry about it now," he said. "Where's Luke?"

"Search the building," she said.

Percy spent more time tearing apart every nook and cranny of the house than he did actually fighting, but in the end, he found no one else — Luke and Annabeth weren't here. He met up with Reyna at the house's entrance who reported identical findings. The good news was that they'd found no civilian hostages either.

Jason approached them dragging two demigods behind him, one limp and the other unconscious. There were two missing faces accounted for, but neither of them was Luke, Annabeth, or Alabaster.

"Let me go, filthy Roman!" the struggling demigod shouted.

"Bring them inside," said Reyna.

Jason dropped the unmoving one near the rest of the demigods and then tossed the conscious rebel in a corner.

"Where's Luke?" Percy demanded.

"In Hades, hopefully," he spat.

"What?"

All he did was glare.

"Where is he, Fonos?" Percy asked forcefully.

"He left!" he answered. "He took his bitch and abandoned us three days ago."

"Annabeth?"

Fonos sneered. "Took barely a week for her to start fucking Luke after you left. Guess she just wanted to be with a real Greek, rather than you."

Percy glanced at Reyna for a moment who watched him with trepidation, but he found himself feeling very little about the news.

"Why did they leave?" he asked.

"I don't know, and I don't care. The _metrokoites_ took off and left without a word."

Percy took a moment to ponder that. Luke had abandoned the rebellion? Why? After everything he'd done, he just left his soldiers behind?

"What about Alabaster?" Percy asked. "He's not here either."

"Luke sent him on a mission before we got here," Fonos answered. "Never told us what, but I assumed it was to kill you. Looks like he didn't succeed. . . yet."

Reyna pulled him outside while Jason continued to question the rebel. She led him out of the estate again to their temporary camp and fished some bandages out of their supplies. She set to work on his cuts.

He watched her intently. She didn't glance up at his face once while she worked, concentrating wholeheartedly on treating his wounds. He didn't even need to ask her to do it. She just aided him automatically, without hesitation.

He came to a realization at that moment, one he hadn't thought he'd reach for a while.

"I'm not mad," he said, "at least not for the reasons I thought I'd be."

"What?" she said bemusedly.

"About Luke and Annabeth," he clarified. "I thought the idea of her with anyone else would be upsetting, because. . . well, you know. But I'm not. I'm just angry with Luke for taking advantage of someone who cares so much about him."

Reyna didn't respond.

"I guess what I'm saying is, I'm not bitter about her because I'm. . ." he paused to take a deep breath, his heart racing. "Reyna, I'm in love with you."

Her eyes widened in shock, and then she beamed at him. The next thing he knew, both her hands were firmly planted on either side of his face and her lips were pressed against his. When she pulled away, he smiled. He'd been worried how she would react to his confession.

"I've loved you for a while," she admitted in a soft tone.

He stared at her for a time, and then tore his eyes away from her beautiful face toward the homestead. "I think I chose the least romantic place for this," he realized.

"Yeah, maybe," she said, but didn't seem to care.

He wanted to live in that moment forever, with just him and her there, but Luke was still out there somewhere, and they still had a job to finish. She finished with his bandages and they headed back to the big house just as Jason was leaving it.

He shook his head before either of them could ask anything.

"Got nothing else from him," he told them.

"Where do we start looking for Luke?" Percy asked.

"I don't know," said Reyna, "but we still have loose ends to tie up here."

The building looked ominous to Percy, standing there old and weathered. He knew what was inside: unconscious murderers and some dead ones. He felt like it was calling to him, beckoning him inside to take out his anger and fury on those he now loathed.

"I can do it," said Jason. "You don't have to."

Percy shook his head. He thought about the promise he'd made to Chiron. These people had once been his friends; his family. He didn't want to kill them, but they needed to be stopped once and for all before more people got hurt. There was no other option.

He dropped to his hands and one knee, perhaps a little too quickly as Reyna and Jason rushed to his side, thinking he'd collapsed. A deep rumble could be heard beneath them and the ground began to shake. It was mild directly under them, but violent where the house stood. Its walls started to collapse and it fell in on itself, the wood and stone it'd been constructed out of crushing everything and everyone that had been inside. The dust settled and the son of the Earthshaker returned to his feet.

"Let's go," he said without looking at either of them. He began to walk away but halted when he heard the distinct sound of a sword being drawn.

He turned quickly just to see Jason aiming the tip of his sword skyward. Lightning came down from the sky and connected with the metal in a long, constant stream of energy. The son of Jupiter brought his sword down and pointed it at the ruined building and the lightning shot toward it. The wood ignited, and the flames slowly spread until it engulfed the whole pile.

Jason met Percy's eyes and said, "Even villains deserve the proper rites."

Percy just nodded solemnly.

* * *

When Percy was in the rebellion, they'd owned ten horses. One was lost after he got captured in Carthage and two more were missing from the homestead's stable. Percy, Reyna, and Jason claimed three to speed their trip back to Neapoli up after Percy had used his special ability to communicate with horses to tell the other four how to find their way to safety.

They'd been riding for a little over an hour when the city walls came into view. When he'd left the city, Percy had hoped the next time he saw it the conflict with the rebellion would be over, but Luke and Alabaster were still out there somewhere, and he doubted they were planning on just laying low for the rest of their lives.

"_Horseman_," said his horse.

"What?" Percy said.

Reyna looked over at him bemusedly. Before she could comment, a whistling sound captured their attention followed by a _thud_. An arrow lodged itself in the ground ahead of them, causing the demigod trio to pull back on their reins and bring their horses to a stop.

Chiron emerged from the trees, slinging his bow back over his shoulder and beckoned them to follow.

After tying up their horses and settling down in the centaur's new campsite, they told him what had happened since they last spoke. They briefly mentioned they'd had quite a few monster encounters, told him how they were attacked by mortals, and recalled the events of the homestead.

"I see," said Chiron gravely. "Troubling news, all around. It saddens me to hear of what you had to do, but I know they chose their own destinies long ago."

"What about Luke and Annabeth?" Percy asked. "Do you have any idea where they could have gone? Or where he sent Alabaster to?"

Chiron pondered silently. "Luke is a determined man. I know not why he chose to abandon his allies. Perhaps he suspected you were coming and knew he'd fall should he stay. Perhaps he didn't trust his allies anymore. I'm not sure, but Luke doesn't give up. His ambitions crawl further and further from his reach every day, making him more and more desperate. I believe there is only one thing he can hope to achieve, now."

"What?"

"Killing Rome's leaders, of course."

"The consuls?" said Reyna. "If they were assassinated, that'd bring about chaos. It'd make Rome vulnerable and distracted. It could lead to an all-out war."

"I don't disagree."

"We have to get back to Rome immediately," said Jason. "We need to warn them."

"Yes," Chiron agreed. "I promised we'd speak again when your mission was done, but it isn't yet."

They got to their feet.

"Where will we find you again?" Percy asked.

"I'll find you, when the time is right," the centaur answered.

Percy nodded. The trio untied their horses and hurried off.

* * *

They arrived at Neapoli not long after. A couple of legionnaires stopped them at the gate and asked them to identify themselves, and then one guided them to Gallio after Jason told them what they suspected.

A castrum came into view and the legionnaire led them inside it, stopping at the praetorium. He told them to wait outside while he went in and then came back out a short time later with Gallio beside him.

"Perseus, wasn't it?" said Gallio when he saw them. "This is certainly a surprise."

"Legatus," said Percy, "Marcus ordered us to come out this way and track down the rebellion."

The legatus's eyes narrowed. "Did he now?"

Percy nodded, rushing onward. "We found them and we killed them, but their leader, Luke, wasn't there. We have reason to believe he has plans to assassinate the consuls."

A look of shock appeared on the man's face, which quickly turned into doubt. "Do you have proof of this?"

"Only suspicion," Percy admitted. "But I've known this man for years. He wants nothing more than to see Rome fall. Now that he's lost his army, this is the biggest thing he can do to damage the Republic."

"Hmm." Gallio stared thoughtfully at them for a moment. "And why should I trust your words?"

"What's the worst that could happen if we're lying? The consuls get extra protection and never get attacked? And if you send some legionnaires east, you'll find an abandoned homestead and a building that has been reduced to rubble and ash, underneath which they'd be able to uncover the rebels' remains."

"Fine. I will send a pigeon to Rome post-haste, but in case it doesn't reach Marcus I'll need you to warn him personally." He beckoned one of his soldiers forward. "Escort these three to the western stable and give them our three fastest horses. No delays."

"Yes, legatus!" the legionnaire said dutifully.

"Um, sir," Percy spoke up. "It'd be fastest if we went by sea."

"It would," Gallio agreed. "Unfortunately none of my ships are at harbor, and it'd be too costly and time-consuming to alleviate one from a civilian. Horse travel is the only option."

"Oh," he said disappointedly.

"I pray to the gods you make it in time," Gallio told them. With that, he turned and walked back into the praetorium.

The legionnaire claimed the horse Percy had ridden there, causing him to have to ride on the back of Reyna's. He felt a bit embarrassed about it, but the alternative was riding on the back of Jason's.

They traveled through the city at a brisk trot and stopped at the stables just outside the western city gate. The legionnaire told them where to stable their horses while he sought out the nearest centurion. Soon enough, two mares — one black and the other white — and a white stallion were saddled up and their reins were handed to them. The black mare took a liking to Reyna, so she mounted it while Percy claimed the white one and Jason hopped on the stallion. Then they sped off toward Rome.

As fast as their horses were, though, they couldn't go forever. After several hours of riding, Percy's horse insisted she needed a rest, so he called a halt and they set up a campsite for the night. They were just barely getting settled in and about to decide who would take first watch when a fourth person entered their campsite.

She was an extraordinarily beautiful woman, wearing a silken blue dress and had a goatskin cloak slung over her shoulders. Her hair was tied in a complex braid and adorned with an ornate diadem, and in her hand, she held a tall, golden staff topped with a lotus flower.

"Hera," Percy said without thinking.

The woman gave him a venomous glare, her eyes glowing and staring straight through him, causing him to gulp. "Juno," she corrected. "Do not speak again while I am here, Perseus."

He opened his mouth to ask how she knew his name, before coming to his senses and stopping himself. He followed his friends' lead, who had both dropped down to one knee and bowed their heads before her.

"Arise," said the goddess.

They obeyed.

"Lady Juno," said Jason. "It's an honor to see you again."

Again? Jason had met the queen of the Roman gods before? There really was quite a bit Percy didn't know about him.

"Jason," Juno said affectionately. "I see you've been keeping well, despite the _company_ you choose to keep." She looked at Percy while she said that.

"May I ask what you're doing here, my lady?" Jason asked.

"I told you after your first quest that I'd call upon you again, one day. The time has come, my champion."

"Now?"

Her eyes narrowed, as if she weren't used to being questioned. "Yes, now. Is that an issue?"

"My lady, the consuls' lives are in danger. We have to —"

"Yes, I'm aware of your predicament," she interrupted. "Bellona's daughter and the Savior of Greece are more than capable of handling the situation. There is a much more urgent issue that requires your attention and yours alone."

Jason looked to Reyna and Percy. Reyna nodded encouragingly and Percy reluctantly did the same. He didn't want Jason to leave, but knew one doesn't just simply disobey a goddess's will.

"What would you have me do?" Jason asked.

Juno smiled. "I'll give you a minute alone with your companions. Come with me when you're ready, and then I'll explain." She turned and left the way she came.

Percy didn't know which of his many questions to ask first. As soon as Juno was gone, the only thing he could think to say was, "Uh, what?"

"When I was two, Juno learned of my father's infidelity and was angry. She wanted to kill me, but Jupiter insisted I be named after the original Jason —"

"The argonaut?"

"Yes. My namesake was her favorite hero, so Jupiter hoped naming me after him would appease her. Instead of killing me, she demanded I be sent to Lupa to train until I was ready to be her champion. I was a decade old, more or less, when she sent me on my first quest. I succeeded and she told me she'd call upon me again one day."

"And now here she is."

"And now here she is," Jason repeated in agreement.

A silence ensued as they all thought about the unexpected obstacle. Of all the times, _now_ was when Juno needed Jason. And what was that she'd called Percy? The Savior of Greece? What did that mean?

Jason stood. "I guess I have to go now. I'm sorry. All I can do is hope you guys make it back to Rome in time."

"Marcus is going to want to know why you didn't come back," said Percy.

Jason shrugged. "I'm not as scared of him as I am of Juno. I'll figure out an excuse when I get back."

"You _will_ be coming back, though," said Reyna.

"Of course," he said with a confident smile. He hugged Reyna first and then shook Percy's hand. "I'll try and finish whatever Juno wants me to do quickly. Don't destroy Rome while I'm gone."

They said their goodbyes, and then Jason went the same way Juno had gone. A strange feeling settled over Percy. Despite the promise, he for some reason wondered whether he'd ever see his friend again.


	21. XX

Upon arriving back in Rome, Lucius Cato had greeted them and assured them that no attack on the consuls had been carried out yet. Relieved to hear the news, they then asked where they'd find Marcus then immediately headed further into the city after receiving their answer.

The fifth and sixth cohorts' castrum looked completely identical to theirs. It was the same size, had the same building layout, and even the same legatus standing in front of the praetorium. The only distinguishing feature about it was its surroundings, and even those looked rather similar.

Percy and Reyna strode into the castrum straight toward the praetorium, in front of which Marcus was speaking with a handful of centurions. Once he noticed them, he hurriedly finished saying whatever he was saying and shooed the centurions away before beckoning them forward.

"Legatus," Reyna said stiffly.

"Where's Grace?" Marcus asked immediately.

Welp, Percy thought. So much for him not noticing.

"He's. . . not here, sir," said Reyna.

"He deserted?"

"No! He —" She sighed. "Juno had need of him. He'll be back."

Marcus scoffed, as they both knew he would. "Right. The queen of the gods needed _Grace_, of all people. He'll be back alright, in chains." He waved a soldier over to him. "I need you to deliver a message for me to the primus pilus. Jason Grace has deserted the legion and is hereby branded an outlaw. I want our best men to search for him so he can be brought to justice. Do you understand?"

"Yes, legatus!" the legionnaire replied.

"Good. Now hurry up!"

The legionnaire gave one last nod and hurried off toward the first cohort's castrum.

Percy glanced at Reyna and knew she was thinking along the same lines. Whomever Cato sent would never be able to apprehend Jason, but that didn't stop them from worrying about the future of their friend. Where would he go without the legion? Would he come back anyway to surrender himself and face punishment for breaking the rules? Percy didn't know, but it wasn't worth worrying about at the moment.

"Now for you two," said Marcus. "Mission report."

"We found the rebels," Percy told him. "They'd set up base at an old homestead east of Neapoli, but their leader wasn't with them. Luke abandoned his men, who are now all dead by our hands."

"What?" Marcus said angrily. The look of pure fury on his face was so intense that Percy almost felt intimidated by the man for the first time.

Marcus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, they showed a determined cool, although the anger was still there. "You didn't kill Luke?" he said.

"He wasn't there —"

"That shouldn't matter!" the legatus spat. "Your mission was to deal with _all _the rebels, and you returned with their leader still alive rather than continuing to search for him."

"We have reason to believe that he'll be coming here," said Reyna.

"What?" His face momentarily contorted from anger to just plain surprise.

"We think he may make an attempt on the consuls' lives."

Marcus began to pace back and forth.

Reyna and Percy glanced at each other, entirely unsure of how to proceed with the situation. They both opted to just remain silent until Marcus spoke again.

For a while, the legatus continued pacing, deep in thought, until he finally stopped and turned his eyes on Reyna. "Arellano, I'm assigning you to the consuls' personal guard. Their lives will be in your hands. _You_," he snarled, turning to Percy, "will return to your castrum and report to your new centurion. He is to assign you a valid punishment for your failure to apprehend the leader of the rebellion. Then tomorrow, I'm sending you back out to track him down and bring him to me alive."

Reyna looked just as surprised as he was. Marcus wholeheartedly held onto his blind prejudice and actually believed that Reyna was the worst centurion in the legion, despite the evidence saying otherwise. Now he was trusting her with the lives of the two most important people in Rome? What was he playing at?

"Do you understand me?" Marcus asked.

"Yes, legatus," Percy and Reyna answered in unison.

"Fine. Arellano, come speak to me in the praetorium."

She looked at Percy hesitantly, but all he could do was shrug. Marcus entered the building and Reyna reluctantly followed him, leaving Percy to head back to their castrum alone.

* * *

Percy was loath to admit it, but he actually _liked_ his new centurion. He was a man half a decade his senior named Caius Adventus. He'd transferred over from the tenth cohort, which explained why Percy had seen him around before without ever having properly met him.

Caius had been very kind when Percy talked to him, saying he agreed that Reyna's demotion was unfair and saying he felt guilty for taking her position. He even went so far as to say he'd have chosen her or Jason as his optio, had he not known Marcus would shoot that idea down in an instant.

After Percy briefed him on what had happened on the mission and how Marcus had reacted, Caius said he didn't feel Percy deserved to be punished but couldn't disobey an order. So as a compromise, he assigned Percy to organize the armory, which was simple enough even if still tedious.

The armory actually was far messier than the last time he'd been there. Weapons were strewn about here and there with no particular order and pieces of armor were just piled at the feet of naked mannequins, for some reason. He wasn't sure how it had gotten to such a state, but set to work fixing it.

He finished picking everything up off the floor and was about to start putting the armor on the mannequins where it belonged when someone else entered the room.

"Percy?" said a familiar voice.

He looked up at the entrance in surprise to see Reyna standing there with a scowl, hopefully not meant for him.

"Uh, hey," he greeted. "I was just cleaning up and moving things around, as ordered by our new centurion."

"Oh," she said. "Well I was tasked with exchanging my armor for a set more '_befitting my rank._'"

"Gods I hate Marcus," Percy muttered.

She smirked and her expression softened.

Percy grabbed the nearest breastplate and extended it to her. She took one glance at it and said, "Too big."

"Thought so," he agreed. He continued searching until he found a suit of armor that most closely matched her slimmer figure.

"That'll work," she approved.

Percy set it on a table and went up to her, then hesitated. "Is it alright if I help you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course, you idiot."

He set to work undoing her straps and removing pieces of armor until she was wearing nothing but her regular clothing. He took a moment to just look at her. She looked so much better without the armor.

Her eyes locked on his. Briefly, they stared at each other until they both went in for the kiss simultaneously. It quickly grew more passionate as he pushed her up against the wall while she wrapped her arms around his neck. One of his hands went down to her hip and then found its way under her shirt and back up to her waist, gently grazing across her soft skin.

It lasted for about a minute, but eventually she separated her lips from his, then ended it with a kiss on the cheek. "I wish we had more time," she whispered sadly next to his ear.

"Me too," he agreed.

She pushed him slightly away from her and then grabbed his hand from her side. She interlaced her fingers with his and then looked over his shoulder to where he'd placed her new armor.

Percy brought the back of her hand up to his lips before letting go and finally handing her the new breastplate. After some time, he helped her do up all the straps and things until she was once again fully outfitted. She looked like just any other legionnaire now, which would take some getting used to.

"I suppose we have separate responsibilities to attend to," said Reyna.

"Yeah," he conceded. "If anyone can protect the consuls from Luke, it's you."

She smiled appreciatively. "I'm not sure we'll get a chance to see each other again before you leave tomorrow."

"It doesn't seem that way," he acquiesced. "I still mean what I said, by the way. I love you."

Her expression brightened and then she leaned in for one last kiss goodbye. "I love you too," she told him. "Come back with Luke so this can all finally be over."

"I will," he promised.

* * *

Percy woke up alone in his cell that night. He always hated waking up alone.

He didn't feel like he'd been asleep that long, but didn't feel tired either. He had a feeling that it wasn't morning yet, but decided to go up and check anyway.

Leaving his armor behind, he left his unlocked cell (which gave him more reason to not dislike Caius) and ascended the staircase. Sure enough, when he exited the building, he found a dark, empty castrum bathed in just a bit of moonlight.

Percy looked up at the night's sky thoughtfully. If Diana was a separate goddess from Artemis, then which of them had guided the moon before the latter fell asleep? Did they struggle for it, which could explain the moon's phases? Did they take turns? Were there two separate moons that each of them controlled, and which one you could see depended on which moon goddess you believed in?

Percy didn't know, and it gave him a headache just thinking about it. The whole thing was just so confusing. If he hadn't seen Juno with his own eyes, he'd be tempted to just believe that Chiron had lied to them. But the fact that the only two Roman demigods he knew had been acknowledged by their godly parents while every single Greek demigod had been wholly ignored by theirs was evidence enough that he'd spoken the truth.

"Hey!" said a gruff voice.

Percy mentally slapped himself as he looked down from the sky to see none other than legatus Marcus staring at him. Before he could come up with an excuse as to why he was outside his cell when he wasn't allowed to be, Marcus turned and beckoned him to follow.

"Come with me," said the legatus. "I want to talk to you."

His speech was slower than usual and slurred. Taking a glance at his hand and seeing a wine bottle clutched in it was enough to confirm Percy's suspicions that the man was drunk. He added it to the growing list of odd behaviors Marcus had been exhibiting since they'd returned from the mission.

Marcus led him to the praetorium and into his office. It looked much the same as the last time he'd been there, except this time a pigeon was sleeping contentedly in his wooden birdcage. Percy ignored it and took a seat opposite Marcus, who was looking at him strangely.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Marcus immediately cut him off.

"Shut up," he ordered. "I've had enough of hearing you talk."

Percy didn't say anything.

"Hmm. Good. Good, obedient, little. . . turncoat."

Percy knit his brow in confusion.

"You know why I don't like you, Perseus? It's 'cause you're a traitor; I don't like traitors. A man who turns his back on his friends and renounces his goals and beliefs to join up with his enemies — that's what you are."

"You're talking about me betraying the rebellion?"

Marcus scowled and took a long swig of wine.

Percy looked at the bottle. For a brief spell when he'd served as a mercenary, he'd practically lived on the stuff. It'd been a while since he'd had any that wasn't watered down. Since he was no longer a probatio, he was getting paid now, but for some reason, he didn't feel drawn to visiting any vineyards or taverns. Perhaps it was just that being with Reyna was enough for him, and he didn't need Dionysus's invention to numb his mind anymore.

"Is there some other betrayal I should know about?" Marcus asked sarcastically. "Of course I'm talking about the rebellion, or what used to be. Not rebelling anymore, though, are they? Thanks to you."

"But I betrayed them to join _you_," Percy objected. "I left them and came here in pursuit of peace, to do what was right."

"Peace," Marcus scoffed. "What's right. What _is_ right? Is Rome in the right, were Greece or those Carthaginians in the right? I doubt the gods even know. What I _do_ know is that peace was, and always will be, nothing more than a pipe dream."

"Luke is the last one in the rebellion. If we take care of him —"

"Then Rome will just find another city to conquer and more people to piss off. That's how it's always worked, hasn't it? It's just an endless cycle."

He sounded almost resentful. It was as if all the war and conflicts had weighed as heavily on him as much as anyone else. The man looked so bitter right then that Percy almost felt sorry for him.

"You lead Rome's most prominent army," Percy reminded him.

"Yeah," Marcus agreed. "I do. You want to know why I joined the legion?"

Percy couldn't help but be curious, so he nodded.

"My father served, same as me, much longer than I did. Gained the rank of primus pilus before he eventually retired and settled down with a woman who died giving birth to me. All the violence and death caused him to take his own life when I was barely of age. I joined the legion because I was young and hungry. I took up the sword in exchange for food and shelter. Then I was thrust into a war I never asked for. I somehow survived it, did my duty, watched friends die, and was awarded a position of power. Now here I still am. But in the end, what's it all for?"

Percy was silent. He'd been so intent on hating Marcus that he never stopped to consider the circumstances that had turned him into the man he was. Percy wasn't changing his opinion on him, but had to begrudgingly respect him for still standing tall, even after everything he'd been through.

"I want you to promise me something," said Marcus after he downed the last of his wine. "Luke. Bring that bastard back here alive. He's a traitor, same as you, ordering half his forces executed like that while their backs were turned and then abandoning the rest. Capture him and bring him to me in chains, so I can watch him die myself."

"I will," said Percy.

"Did you hear me? I want him brought back _alive_."

"I understand."

"Good." He tried to take another drink of wine before realizing it was empty. "Get off to bed. Don't want to travel without any sleep in you, do you?"

Just happy to not be punished for being out at night, Percy took his leave and returned to his cell, all the while thinking hard about the conversation he just had.

* * *

Percy had never felt so alone in the castrum. Jason was off on some dangerous quest somewhere and Reyna was living in a barracks next to the Curia Hostilia with the rest of the consuls' bodyguards. Sure, Caius was nice, and he wasn't exactly on bad terms with any of the other legionnaires in his century, but Reyna and Jason were his only real friends. Without them around he was actually kind of glad he was leaving again today.

He'd honestly thought that joining the legion would mean he'd be doing _less_ traveling than when he was in the rebellion, but now realized otherwise. It seemed recently he couldn't go more than a couple of weeks without hitting the road again. Maybe that would change once he captured Luke, but he doubted it. Juno had called him the "Savior of Greece". He didn't quite know what that meant yet, but he had a sneaking suspicion it at least implied that his journeys weren't over.

If he's being honest, Percy didn't even know why he was leaving at all. He had no leads as to where Luke could be except that he may attempt to assassinate the consuls. Clearly that should mean the best place to be to find him would be by the consuls' sides, but for some reason, Marcus insisted he leave the city.

After eating breakfast in the mess hall, Percy gathered up his supplies and stuffed them in a saddlebag, which he'd have to carry all the way to the stables at the edge of the city. He was on the path out of the castrum when a sudden warm gust of wind made him pause.

He didn't know what it was, but he'd felt it before. It had happened after they'd killed the amphisbaena and another time when he'd been about to lie to avoid Jason's concern the night before they took down the rebellion. Someone or _something_ was watching over him, and right now it was trying to tell him something.

Up ahead a man caught his eye. Marcus was leaving the castrum with a legionnaire at his side. Percy watched him until he was out of view, then turned his eyes to the praetorium. He made a split-second decision and entered the building.

Marcus had picked _Reyna, _the person he believed to be the least capable soldier in the legion, to guard the two most powerful people in the Republic. He'd also been adamantly against the idea of sending the three of them to take down the rebels before having his hand forced by Cato. On top of all that, he'd been acting very weird the previous night and said some concerning things. Percy didn't entirely know what any of that meant, but he hoped he was about to find out.

He purposefully walked past several doors until he found the one he was looking for. He examined his surroundings to make sure no one was around and then pushed the door open.

The room looked exactly as it did the previous night with the only difference being that Marcus wasn't in it this time. His desk was cluttered with scrolls and torn sheets of papyrus and his bed was sloppily made. The pigeon was still in its birdcage, nibbling happily on a small piece of bread. It looked up at him curiously for only a moment before going back to its food.

Percy scanned over the documents on the desk and, of course, they were all written in Latin, which he still couldn't read. He opened some drawers and found nothing all that questionable other than a pouch of drachmas. Why did he have drachmas in the middle of a city that dealt in denarii?

The desk contained nothing else of interest so he went about examining the rest of the room yet still came up empty. He was about to give up and accept the fact that he was being stupid when the pigeon cooed at him and caught his attention. For a split-second, he thought its eyes glowed orange, but he must have imagined it.

Percy approached the bird and investigated its wooden cage. He rotated it around and found a secret compartment hidden in its base. Inside were several scrolls small enough to be tied to the bird's leg. He unrolled one and was happy to see it was written in Greek, or at least he was until he read what it said.

_I can assure you that my plans haven't changed. I accepted the proposal because I knew it'd create an opportunity we couldn't miss. If you're still with me, then you'll arrive at the designated time and ensure that we have the opportunity to eliminate the officers without arousing suspicion._

_-L_

Percy's heart started racing as he tossed the scroll aside and picked up another.

_It was to my understanding that you'd be sending your WORST men to combat us, so why is it that my most powerful soldier was so easily captured? Have you taken me for a fool, or do you simply not know your own men as well as I know mine?_

_-L_

He picked up another, then another, and another. He read every single one and realized there was only one, horrifying conclusion he could come to.

_Our business near Carthage has concluded. I'm making plans to secure a vessel to sail toward Rome. It'd aid us if you could alter circumstances so our voyage is more easily attainable._

_-L_

_I know what I'm doing, and don't ever question my motives. I was surrounded by traitors and now I'm not. You killed one of your targets, is that not good enough for you? That day cost me one of my most trusted soldiers._

_-L_

_I'm a reasonable man. If Gallio's death is so important to you, it'll be done. I've sent my most capable assassin to Neapoli, and he'll do the job when the time is right. Don't deign to suggest I haven't accommodated your wishes._

_-L_

_I don't care anymore. Just kill him. Kill that traitor who ruined everything I've ever worked for. Do whatever it takes. Expose yourself if you have to. He needs to die. I want him dead._

_-L_

The last one was the shortest and the handwriting was terrible, as if the writer had been in a hurry to get it written and sent off.

_Thanks for the warning. Soon._

_-L_

* * *

**A/N: Fun fact: The silhouetted helmet in this story's cover art represents Luke, due to the crack over the left eyehole resembling his scar. The wavy purple background represents Marcus's cape.  
**


	22. XXI

Nico entered the forest slowly and quietly. He found a good dark spot and dropped to one knee before placing his hand flat on the ground. He felt the shadows dance at his touch and willed them to obey him. He closed his eyes, but he could still see. The shadows told him everything about his surroundings, even things that weren't in his line of sight.

He concentrated hard, searching everywhere until he noticed an unusual clump of darkness. _There_, he thought.

He moved quickly through the trees to a large boulder, behind which was supposedly nothing but darkness, but he knew better. He reached forward and touched an invisible shoulder, then a woman appeared, who let the shadows fall back naturally into place.

Bianca smiled and got to her feet from the sitting position she was in. "You're getting faster, little brother," she told him.

"Still not as fast as you," he mumbled. "You can find me almost instantly."

She shrugged. "You're a lot better with the dead than I am."

"And what good has that done us?"

"You can still control this thing better than I can." She patted the boulder.

Taking that as an invitation to show off, Nico extended his hand and concentrated. The boulder rose off the ground. Sweat started dripping down his face as it rose higher and higher until he couldn't hold it anymore. He dropped his hand down to his side and the massive rock fell back to the ground with a loud _thud_.

Bianca ruffled his hair. "See? We all have our own talents."

After taking a second to catch his breath, he smiled appreciatively at his sister.

"Want to try shields now?" she asked.

"I think I'm spent," he replied.

"Then I'll just do mine." She raised her arm in front of her like she was holding a shield and a thick, dark fog formed around it, condensing and darkening until it was an almost solid plate of blackness. "Try and hit me," she said.

Before he could respond, a loud whistle caught their attention. They looked back toward the camp and saw Will beckoning them over.

"Another time," Nico promised.

Bianca's shield of shadows dissipated. She took off at a jog toward Will and Nico followed behind.

"Luke's looking for you," Will told them. "I think he's got an assignment."

"Is he in his tent?" Bianca asked.

"Of course."

She gave him a nod and headed into the camp. Nico paused for a moment.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem," Will replied with a grin. "Hey, you want to hang out when you get back, or something?"

"Sure," he answered quietly with a blush.

"Cool. See you then. Good luck on your assignment."

He walked away and Nico chased after his sister. The two of them entered the big tent and found Luke waiting for them.

"Strategos," Nico greeted.

"Prodromoi," Luke returned. "Rome has been eerily silent since we started our rebellion. I want you two to go to Carthage and learn what you can. Report back in a fortnight if you find nothing, but come back immediately if you discover any plans of retaliation."

"When do we leave?" Bianca asked.

"Today, ideally. Unless you have any reason to delay?"

Neither of them said anything.

"Good. I want you to be swift, so take two horses."

"Horses don't like me," said Nico.

"Then ask Percy for help. Do you accept your mission?"

They nodded.

"Good. Start readying to leave."

They left and parted ways to head off to their own tents. Nico began gathering his things and while he was packing, Percy approached him.

"Hey," the son of Poseidon greeted.

"You heard?" Nico asked.

Percy nodded. "Came to see you off."

"Luke wants us to travel by horse. I'll need you to convince one of them to let me ride it."

"Yeah. They all say you smell like death."

"Well they don't exactly smell great either."

Percy laughed.

Nico used to have a thing for him, but those feelings died after it became apparent his father was Hades, making Percy his cousin. Plus, he was with Annabeth, and Nico doubted he'd ever live to see the day those two split up.

"I don't like you two going out alone," Percy told him.

"We'll watch each others' backs," Nico assured.

"Two children of Hades are going to have a strong scent. It's going to be dangerous."

"We know what we're doing. We _have_ done this before."

"Sure, but never this far away from the rest of us."

"Percy," Nico said firmly. "We'll be fine. We've got this."

"Okay," Percy relented. "Just be careful."

Nico nodded.

* * *

Several hours later, the siblings tied their horses to trees and set up camp for the night, having made it just under halfway to their destination. Nico's horse nervously backed away from him while Bianca's happily ate an apple out of her hand.

"How come they like _you_?" Nico asked, irritated.

Bianca shrugged. "Maybe if you weren't so gloomy all the time they'd warm up to you."

"I'm not gloomy," Nico muttered gloomily.

Bianca chuckled.

Nico set to gathering wood for a campfire and dropped them in a pile while Bianca started working on lighting a flame. Once Nico was content with the amount of firewood he'd collected, he willed some stones to rise up out of the earth and form a circle. They set themselves in place and Nico dropped the wood inside the ring just as Bianca managed to get an ember going. She buried it beneath the sticks and soon the whole pile was ablaze.

Nico sat down, content to just enjoy the heat, and Bianca did the same while munching on a piece of jerky.

"You remember that one time," said Bianca, "at the market?"

"Neapoli or Capua?" Nico asked.

"Capua."

"Yeah, I remember. It was when that guy was harassing you."

She laughed. "You scared him half to death. He's probably still having nightmares about you."

Nico smirked. "I hope so. Why do you bring it up?"

"Well, I think about that day a lot. I could have fended him off myself, but I didn't need to because you were there for me."

"Always."

She smiled. "It was the first time _you_ were the one protecting _me_. That was when I realized you were more than just my annoying little brother."

Nico started to protest, but she continued over him.

"That was when I realized you wouldn't need me to be your overprotective big sister forever. And now you're fully capable on your own."

"What are you saying?"

She took a deep breath. "What I'm saying is. . . I want to —" She stopped suddenly with a look of alarm on her face, and then shot to her feet.

Nico heard it too. A low growling came from the edge of their campsite. A pair of red eyes appeared in the dark treeline and a massive beast jumped out at them. It was twice as tall as him and covered in shaggy, black fur. Nico drew his sword and Bianca, to his horror, approached it without a weapon in hand.

"Bianca!" Nico said. "Stay back, that's a hellhound!"

She ignored him, and the monster tilted its head in confusion, as if to say, _Why is my meal not scared of me?_

Nico wanted to strike while it was distracted, but he knew any sudden movements could cause it to pounce on his defenseless sister. So he annoyingly had to wait to see what stupid thing she was doing and hope she didn't get herself killed.

He was completely baffled when, amazingly, Bianca placed her hand on the hellhound's snout and its growling stopped. She stroked its face for a bit and then scratched behind its ear. The beast closed its eyes and leaned into her hand. Eventually, she stopped and the beast looked sad, but she whispered something in its ear and it backed up a few steps before vanishing into the darkness.

Nice stared at her, mouth agape, and she shrugged nonchalantly before sitting back down next to the campfire.

"What — was — _that?_" he asked in astonishment.

"He's of the Underworld," she answered unhelpfully.

"Bianca —"

"I just _knew_ it would obey," she interrupted. "I'm not sure how I knew, but I could just tell."

"What did you order it to do?"

"I just asked it to leave us alone, and then it did."

Nico finally sheathed his sword and sat down. "Did you see how it just disappeared like that?"

She nodded.

"That was shadow travel, I'm sure of it."

"What?"

"Just a name I came up with for something I've been trying to learn. It entered the shadows in one place and probably came out somewhere else entirely. I want to be able to do that."

"No luck?"

He shook his head. He just watched the flames for a while until Bianca spoke up.

"I think you should get some sleep," she suggested. "I can take first watch."

Nico didn't say anything for a bit, then remembered what they were talking about before the hellhound had appeared. "What were you going to say before?"

She hesitated. "Nico. . . I want to leave the rebellion."

He stared at her, certain he must have misheard her. "What?"

She didn't meet his eyes. "I want to leave. I don't know where to yet, but I've been thinking for a while that this isn't really what I want."

"What about Greece? Rome is getting more powerful by the day. We can't stop now."

"We were born in Neapoli," she reminded him. "We've always been outsiders among the other demigods."

"But this is what we're _meant_ to do: liberate the home of our ancestors."

"It's not what _I'm_ meant to do!" She took a deep breath. "Sorry, I shouldn't have raised my voice. I'm only trying to say that this just isn't me. I'm not asking you to give up or anything, only to let me go when the time comes."

Nico was silent with a scowl etched on his face. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all this time, all this preparation, she just wanted to leave the rebellion; to leave her own brother behind?

"Nico," Bianca said pleadingly, a look of worry plain in her eyes. "Please try to understand."

"What's there to understand?" he asked. "You don't care about me or the rebellion so you're going to abandon us."

"You know that's not true."

"Then _why_?" he demanded angrily.

She looked close to tears. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. When she opened them again she had a look of determined calm on her face.

"I never wanted any of this. Sure, I'm just as angry about what happened to Daedalus as everyone else, but I never wanted to go to war. I just want a chance to lead a somewhat normal life. We've been running around so much ever since mom died that we never got to have a childhood."

"_Rome_ stole that from us. Rome took away our childhoods and any chance we had at a normal life."

"No. We took that away from ourselves."

Nico scoffed in exasperation.

Bianca sighed. "Let's talk about this later. It's not going to matter for a while anyway, until I figure out what it is that I actually want to do. Just get some sleep."

Having nothing else to say to her right then, he used his powers to make a piece of ground relatively soft and laid in it with his back to his sister. He didn't fall asleep for a while.

* * *

The city of Carthage looked absolutely prosperous. Ships were sailing to and from the harbor, people were flooding the streets, and the architecture had a different elegance to it than in Neapoli. Other than a few sections of wall that you could clearly tell had been recently repaired and a ruined building here and there, you wouldn't be able to guess that the city had been under siege a decade past.

"I'll try and glean some gossip from the locals," Bianca told him. "You should find some soldiers to spy on and learn what you can."

Nico just nodded. His sister looked like she wanted to say more, but decided against it and walked off. He looked around and didn't spot any Roman soldiers, so he picked a random street and started traveling down it.

It took a while before he finally found who he was looking for. As he was walking, a pair of armored men that had to be Roman appeared around a corner and walked in his direction. Nico kept his gaze forward and avoided eye contact and the Romans paid him no mind. As soon as they passed him, Nico stopped in his tracks, turned, and began tailing them as discreetly as he could.

The soldiers didn't go too far. They took a couple more turns and walked for a couple of minutes before arriving at a building that was slightly more grand than the surrounding ones. They entered through the front door and then Nico couldn't see them anymore.

He approached the building and put his ear to the door but couldn't hear anything. He was about to obscure himself in darkness and go inside when a hand grabbed his arm.

"Nico!" his sister hissed. "What are you doing?"

He looked at her in surprise. "The mission," he answered.

"You're going to get yourself caught."

"I know what I'm doing!" he replied indignantly. "Did you learn anything?"

"I did, in fact. Some people saw an official Roman trireme come to port about a week ago, and some sort of important officer stopped here for a day before reboarding the ship and moving on to Hadrumetum."

Nico looked at the door and walked away from it, beckoning his sister to follow. They stopped in an empty alley and then continued their conversation.

"He's probably here to combat the rebellion," said Nico.

"It sounds like it," Bianca agreed. "We should head back and report this to Luke."

Nico didn't say anything for a bit while he thought. "Or. . ."

"Or what?"

"We could stowaway on a ship to Hadrumetum and find out what he's planning."

"Luke said to report back as soon as we learned something."

"What do you care about Luke's orders if you're abandoning the rebellion anyway? Sailing to Hadrumetum will be faster than riding back to camp, and we can learn a lot more useful information directly from an officer than we can from some grunt soldiers here."

"What about the horses?"

"We'll come back for them another time. This is more important."

Bianca looked like she wanted to protest, but it seemed the comment about her abandoning the rebellion had stuck with her. Instead, she said, "Fine, but we're _buying_ passage to Hadrumetum."

"Okay."

* * *

Nico found his sister tailing a random legionnaire and approached her. The soldier made a turn and before she could follow, Nico grabbed her shoulder to stop her. She turned and looked at him in alarm, then relaxed when she saw who it was.

"Do you _have_ to sneak up on me like that?" she asked.

Nico ignored the question. "I found it," he said.

"Really?"

"I saw one soldier tell another to report to 'the legatus'. I followed him to a building toward the western edge of the city and he went inside."

"Legatus," she muttered. "That's a legion commander. I didn't think Rome _had_ a full legion around here."

"Whatever the case, I know where we can find him."

She looked thoughtful, but nodded to him. "Lead the way."

He led them through the streets of Hadrumetum until they reached a fairly new looking building with a single entrance and no windows. Two guards flanked the door, which Nico knew to be the only entrance as he had already checked the rest of the walls and found no other way in.

The two found a discreet vantage point where they could watch the entrance and waited for something to happen. Sooner or later the legatus would have to come out or the guards would accidentally create an opportunity for them to slip inside.

"We should just stake out the building for a while," Bianca suggested. "Try and figure out how many people are inside and find the best chance to go in. Probably after this legatus leaves, one of us could tail him while the other sneaks in to try and find some written plans or something that can help us."

Nico nodded absentmindedly. His eyes were trained on one of the guards who was fidgeting, as if he were impatient for something. His guesses were that someone was coming, or his shift was about to end.

Both, in fact, proved true when the door opened and a new pair of legionnaires came out. The four exchanged a few words and then the first two turned to the entrance.

Nico took his chance. He cloaked himself in darkness, which made him almost completely invisible, and darted toward the building.

"Nico!" Bianca hissed, but he was already gone.

Just as the door was about to close, Nico dashed through and pressed himself against the wall. Neither of the guards seemed to notice him and took off deeper into the building. Before following them, Nico looked around and noticed he was in some kind of entryway, with a weapon rack, wine rack, and table taking up the floor space. Opposite of him was an open door leading to a hallway, which the guards proceeded into.

In the hallway, there were a few doors. Nico peeked inside one as the guards entered it and decided it was some kind of sleeping quarters, so he ignored it and continued forth. He put his ear up against every other door and heard nothing until the second to last one. He could hear muffled voices speaking in Latin, which just so happened to be his native tongue. The door blocked out too much noise for him to understand what was being said, but he was able to make out what he thought to be "legatus."

Needing to hear what the Romans were talking about, he carefully and very slowly turned the handle and pushed the door open just a crack. He was only able to hear a man suddenly stop talking before going quiet. The door flung open on its own and he saw a pair of violet eyes staring straight into his.

Quick as lightning, the man drew a book from his belt, opened it, and then Nico was struck by a powerful force. He was thrown back against the wall and felt his veil of darkness dissipate against his will. He was dazed and tried to grab his sword, but a pair of rough hands hoisted him to his feet and took his weapon from him. Nico tried to fight, to use shadows as a weapon, but he couldn't. Those violet eyes stared fiercely at him and he felt himself growing drowsy. He resisted for a few seconds before consciousness slipped away from him.

* * *

Nico's eyes fluttered open to see a dark room. He had to blink a few times to bring it fully into focus, which didn't reveal a whole lot. There was a bucket in the corner and the walls were all made of stone, except for one, which consisted of metal bars.

Nico sat up and touched the thing he'd been laying on and identified it to be a pile of straw. He then placed his hand on the ground, but the shadows didn't react to his touch. He tried again, but still, there was nothing. Nico got to his feet and shook the bars, but they didn't come loose.

"Nico?" a familiar voice said.

Nico sighed in relief. Bianca was here. She was going to rescue him and he could apologize for being an idiot.

"Bianca. Where are you?" he asked.

He heard a knocking sound on the wall to his left.

"In the cell next to yours," his sister answered in a dark tone.

His heart sank. "What?"

"They caught me too. That man. . . he isn't mortal. I can't use my powers."

Nico slumped against the wall. "I'm so sorry," he said.

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I got us into this. I should have just stuck with your plan. I was just. . . I'm sorry."

"I was reckless too. When you didn't come back out, I attacked the guards and went in just to get captured."

There was a short silence that was eventually broken by Nico. "Bianca, I'm sorry."

"I already —"

"Not just for this. I'm sorry for how I reacted. I was being selfish. You said you didn't want to be a part of the rebellion and I just got so mad because I didn't want you to leave."

"Nico, we all have our place in this world. I just don't think mine is in the rebellion."

"I get that now. When we get out of this, I won't try and stop you from going. You've always been there for me, been so understanding. The least I can do is return the favor."

"Thank you. But don't think we're saying goodbye. We'll still see each other every time there's an opportunity."

Nico smiled, even though she couldn't see it.

The sound of a door being opened could be heard and light spilled into the hall outside their cells. Two men approached them. One wore very expensive looking armor adorned with a purple cape and the other had standard Roman armor and a book strapped to his waist like a sword. They both stopped at Nico's cell, and he could just make out the man with the book's violet eyes. He stared down at Nico smugly while the one with the cape examined him as if he were an interesting animal.

"My name is Marcus," said the man with the expensive armor. "I'm the leader of Rome's greatest legion and came here on reports of Greeks taking up the sword against the Republic. Who are you, and why were you sneaking around in a sanctioned military building?"

Nico didn't answer. He just glared at the man who stood before him, who he now realized was the legatus they were looking for.

Marcus sighed. "I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way." He looked over at the violet-eyed man and pointed at Bianca's cell.

He nodded and drew his book, holding it open in one hand and walked over to the cell door. His hand glowed and the door opened on its own. Bianca immediately lunged out and tried to attack him, but was hit by an invisible force.

"No!" Nico yelled.

The man with the book pulled Bianca to her feet and drew a dagger, holding it at her throat. He dragged her over next to the legatus so that Nico could see her clearly. She was forcing a calm look on her face, but Nico could see a tiny spark of fear in her eyes.

"I'll ask again," said Marcus. "Who are you; why are you here?"

Nico tore his eyes away from his sister and looked hatefully at the legatus. "I'm Nico," he told him. "She's Bianca. We're scouts for the rebellion. We came here to learn what plans you had against us."

"Hmm. You a demigod?"

Nico was momentarily surprised by the question, but looked at the man threatening his sister and knew he had to be a demigod as well.

He nodded. "We both are."

"Who's your parent?" the violet-eyed man asked.

"Hades."

"And hers?"

"She's my sister."

He seemed content with that.

"Please don't speak out of turn again, Nitus," Marcus said to his soldier before turning his attention back to Nico. "Tell me about the rebellion. Everything you know."

Nico looked at the knife held to Bianca's throat before he started talking. He told them how they were all demigods, how they moved camp constantly, how they were led by a man named Luke. He tried to sidestep telling them about the rebellion's plans but had no choice when Marcus asked about them specifically. Soon, Nico had nothing else to tell.

"Hmm," Marcus hummed. "Nitus, put the girl back in the cage. I want you to keep this information to yourself until we can better figure out what to do about this information. A whole band of demigods is up in arms against Rome. I don't want to scare the troops."

"Yes, legatus," said the man called Nitus. He returned Bianca to the same cell and locked the door.

"I want to meet with this Luke," said Marcus. "See if we can get him to surrender before we spend lives meeting demigods in open battle. In the morning, I want _you_ —" he pointed at Nico "— to journey with Nitus here to wherever your friends have set up camp. You will meet with your leader in private to arrange a meeting. Any funny business will not be tolerated. Should Nitus return with reports of treachery, your sister will die. She also dies if he doesn't return at all, so I'd be compliant if I were you."

Nico nodded miserably.

"Nitus, do your magicks or whatever on their cells so they can't escape or anything."

"I already did," said Nitus, but Marcus was already walking away. He turned to follow him, but stopped when Nico spoke.

"You're a son of Hecate," he realized. There was another child of Hecate in the rebellion named Alabaster, but he didn't know him that well. He was familiar enough with his spellcasting to be able to tell that this Roman was one too, though.

"Her name's Trivia," Nitus snarled then marched away.

There was silence, and he could almost feel Bianca judging him.

"What was I supposed to do?" he asked.

"I don't blame you, Nico," his sister replied. "We'll get out of here."

"How?"

"I don't know. We'll figure it out."

There was no soul in her voice. She knew just as well as he how bad things looked for them.

* * *

"Stop here," Nico whispered.

"What?" Nitus said indignantly. "Don't presume to give me orders, _Graecus_."

"I was told to get you to Luke without anyone else spotting us. Unless you want to get shot by our archers, stop here."

Nitus scowled, but stopped all the same. Nico inched forward and climbed a rock to see the rebel camp right where he'd left it.

"It's here," he said.

Nitus climbed up next to him to see it for himself.

"That big tent at the back is Luke's," Nico explained. "He can be found there most of the time. We can sneak around to it but we'll have to be careful to not be seen by whoever's on guard."

"Alright. Lead the way. Remember what happens if you try to alert your friends —"

"I know!" he snapped.

Nico led Nitus around the camp, giving it a wide berth so as to avoid detection. He never thought he'd be sneaking around his comrades. He was so close to home right now, but so far away for as long as Bianca was still imprisoned.

They found their way behind the big tent without issues. Nico pointed out a spot for Nitus to wait for him to return with Luke then approached the tent. He touched the shadows and commanded them to speak to him. It was too bright inside for him to get a clear picture, but he could feel enough to tell there was only one person in there.

He lifted the tent's canvas and crawled under it. When he got to his feet, he found the tip of a sword directly in his face that quickly fell to the ground when its wielder realized who he was.

"Nico?" Luke said. "What in Hades are you doing sneaking into my tent? Where's Bianca?"

Nico looked at the strategos pleadingly. "We went to Carthage and learned that an important Roman officer had stopped there before continuing to Hadrumetum, so we followed the trail. We were captured there."

"How did you manage to get captured? How did you escape?"

"I didn't. He still has Bianca and threatened to kill her if I didn't guide a messenger to you."

Luke's eyes widened, and then narrowed in anger. "You brought a Roman _here_?" he seethed.

"Only one. Please, talk with him or they'll kill Bianca. They're willing to negotiate."

Luke stared at him with annoyance in his eyes and for a second, Nico feared he wouldn't cooperate. Then he slashed open a gap in the back of the tent and gestured for Nico to go through. "Lead the way," he said.

Nitus was still where Nico had left him. As soon as the two came into sight, the Roman demigod's violet eyes met the blue of Luke's. The strategos, with his sword sheathed, stiffly shook Nitus's hand. He glanced down at the book strapped to his side for a moment before returning his gaze to the Roman's face.

"Speak, and I might consider allowing you to live," Luke ordered.

Nitus glared, and then matched Luke's Greek with a heavy accent. "You're not in any position to be making threats, _Graecus_. You kill me, his sister dies."

"So what?" Luke replied in a scarily convincing tone. "What good is a scout that gets herself captured? Now tell me why your commander coerced Nico into leading _you _here instead of an army."

Nitus's resolve wavered only for a moment before he cleared his throat and began talking. "My name is Nitus and I'm here on behalf of Legatus Marcus. He seeks to meet with you on a neutral ground to negotiate a peaceful resolution to this conflict."

"Peaceful resolution? And by that you mean lure us out to be slaughtered?"

"Surely you realize it'd be far more advantageous to take you here by surprise if we wanted to just kill you all. The alternative would be having you be on alert and ready for an attack, which would likely end poorly for us. The legatus wishes only to speak. Should an accord be made, the children of Pluto will be returned to you unharmed."

Nico guiltily averted his gaze to the ground but could feel Luke glaring at him.

"Fine," said Luke. "I'll meet with this Marcus, but only if he brings no more than four men with him as well as my prodromoi, and I'll do the same. I will also be picking the location."

Nitus looked thoughtful for a moment then nodded. "I can agree to that. Where will we meet?"

"I'll let you know."

He stared at Luke bemusedly. "How?"

Luke whistled in two short bursts. A few seconds passed and then a bird dove out of the sky and landed on his shoulder. Luke extended his hand toward the son of Trivia, who backed away nervously, and the pigeon walked down his arm until its feet were resting on his fist. It looked curiously at Nitus for a while until it flapped its wings just a couple times for flash and turned back to Luke, who stroked its head with his other hand.

"His name is Nitus," Luke told his pet bird. It cooed at him happily and extended its wings as if to tell him it understands. Luke tossed the bird into the air and it flew away.

Nitus still looked confused but seemed to understand well enough to not need to inquire further. "So, is there anything you would have me relay to Marcus?" he asked.

"Only that I'm greatly looking forward to this meeting," Luke answered with a sinister grin.

* * *

Marcus led his men and prisoners off the road and up through the trees. They stopped in a clearing that matched the one described in Luke's letter and waited. Several minutes passed before Luke entered the clearing with his soldiers: Ethan, Alabaster, and a pair of archers. The archers took their positions at a distance while the other three Greek demigods approached the Romans. Alabaster stopped in front of Nitus and the two eyed each other intently, each with a hand on their spellbooks.

"You must be Marcus," Luke said, breaking the silence. "I am Luke, strategos of the rebellion."

"Strategos?" Marcus repeated. "Why not polemarchos? You are the highest rank, are you not?"

"We haven't got enough soldiers to warrant a position of that significance."

"Hmm. Fair point." He approached Nico and Bianca. "Now as a gesture of goodwill, I release our captives back into your care."

Marcus undid their shackles and allowed them to join the rebels' side of the clearing. Nitus looked at his superior like he'd gone mad while the others just glanced nervously at each other.

"Thank you," said Luke, with a smile. "Now I believe we can get started."

Nico glanced at the archers and noticed their hands twitching impatiently, as if they were preparing to draw their bows at a moment's notice. Alabaster was still watching Nitus cautiously and Ethan looked as calm as ever. Realization dawned on him.

"Now hold on just one second," said Marcus, seeming to know what Luke was planning as well. "I think you'll want to hear what I have to say."

"And what is that?" Luke asked.

"Our peoples have been at odds since Rome was still just a kingdom. Now it's a republic and quickly growing into an empire in all but name."

"What's your point?"

"I have no love for Greece, I'll admit, but I have no love for the Republic either. They've wrought war into these lands so often that people hardly know how to live without it. Now I say there need be only one more to end all others."

Luke's eyes narrowed and his hand was now on his sword handle. "Are you threatening us?"

"You mistake me. I'm _propositioning_ you. Your scout told me all about your plans, but I think you can do better — set your sights on something bigger. Why settle for reclaiming what Rome took from you when you can seek vengeance? With my aid, of course, your rebellion can bring about the fall of Rome."

Luke's eyes sparkled with interest, although he still looked wary. Marcus's men couldn't seem to figure out whether or not their commander was trying to trick Luke, except for Nitus, who appeared to have decided that he wasn't and was now slowly backing away.

Suddenly, way faster than you'd expect a man of his age to be able to do, Marcus drew his sword and turned on his own soldiers. He cut the throat of one then stabbed the second through his gut before meeting the blade of the third, who just barely managed to draw in time to defend himself. Marcus was too good, however, and the third quickly fell too.

Nitus had his book in hand and was about to cast some sort of spell on Marcus, but was intercepted by a different spell from Alabaster. The Roman demigod was struck by an invisible force and his spellbook flew out of his hands. Before he could recover, two arrows finished him off.

Nico could feel them die. He could see their souls leaving their bodies, sinking into the ground and heading straight for the Underworld. The air thickened with death like an invisible fog, denser than he'd ever seen before.

Nico and Bianca backed away in horror, trying to put distance between themselves and everyone else without being noticed. Nico realized he was surrounded by killers, and Bianca looked to have come to the same conclusion.

Marcus wiped the blood from his blade and then tossed it at Luke's feet. The strategos's face was alight with both surprise and wonder.

"If you still intend on killing me," said the legatus, "get it over with. But I have twelve cohorts directly under my command, two of which are on this side of the Mare Nostrum and just as obedient as the rest, despite not technically being part of my legion. They could prove quite bothersome should I not be alive to order them to stand idle."

Luke didn't say anything for a while before finally picking up Marcus's sword and handing it back to him. "I believe we have an alliance," he said with a smile.

Nico was completely horrified. This man had just betrayed his own men, murdered them like it was nothing, and Luke was going to ally himself with him? Not only that, but Alabaster and the archers had helped kill Nitus, which went against the oath they swore when the rebellion first began, and Luke didn't seem to care.

He looked at his sister and they both came to a silent agreement: _run!_ They turned tail and raced away from Luke, Marcus, and the rest of them.

"Stop them!" Luke's voice ordered. "If the others learn of what happened here, this'll all have been for nothing!"

A second later, Bianca cried out in pain and collapsed. Nico stopped and dropped to her side to see the tip of an arrow sticking out of her stomach. He was too terrified to be angry. _Please,_ he thought, _don't let her die!_

"Nico!" Bianca pleaded. "Go!"

He shook his head. "No! I won't leave you."

Two more arrows flew. Nico formed a shield from shadows that deflected one of them from Bianca, but the other struck his thigh. His skin was on fire and tears unwillingly fell from his eyes, but all he cared about was Bianca. He gripped her hand tightly and prayed to his father, Zeus, Hecate, and every other god he could think of in that moment that they could just make it out alive.

Time seemed to slow down. He could hear the _twangs_ of two more arrows being loosed and watched them fly through the air. He was too weak to do anything about it. The first struck Bianca's heart and the second came for his face.

He closed his eyes and waited to die, but the arrow never came. Suddenly, he felt a tug in his gut and then a sensation of traveling faster than Hermes. When it stopped and he opened his eyes, he was somewhere completely different. Marcus was gone. Luke was gone. The other demigods were gone. Even the arrow in his leg had been left behind. He'd just shadow traveled.

The only other person still with him was Bianca, whose eyes were empty and body was unmoving.

"No!" he yelled. "NO!"

He clutched her lifeless corpse and cried and begged until he'd lost too much blood, and felt himself slipping away. Death crawled at his skin and began to pull him down to the Underworld. Then he felt nothing at all.


	23. XXII

Percy punched a wall, and then immediately regretted it. The pigeon made an alarmed noise and scooted to the back of its cage while Percy massaged his knuckles.

There was always something. If it wasn't a trusted leader and friend turning into a vengeance-seeking warmonger or a goddess stealing his friend away, it was something worse. Every single way he turned something new popped up to make his life more difficult.

It was as if the Fates were trying to see how many obstacles they could throw at him before he couldn't take it anymore. Sooner or later _something_ had to go his way, right?

He read through the letters three more times before shoving them all back into the birdcage. This whole time Marcus had been working with Luke. Marcus had been conspiring against Rome with Luke since before Percy even left the rebellion. The leader of Rome's greatest legion was aiding and abetting a Greek rebel.

No matter how many times he said it, it still didn't make any sense to him, but the evidence was damning. He just didn't understand why or how. Marcus had a life of luxury laid out for him following his retirement, and he was willing to risk it all to see Luke's ambitions achieved? What did he hope to gain?

The only thing Percy understood was that he had to stop him. The letters wouldn't be enough to convince anyone of his guilt. Marcus's reputation couldn't be destroyed by something that can be easily forged. He needed irrefutable evidence in order for the consuls and Senate to convict him.

Percy took one last look at the pigeon before turning his sights on the door. He was so lost in thought that he forgot to pay attention as he left Marcus's office.

"Legionnaire," a voice said.

Percy froze and turned toward the voice whilst silently scolding himself. Caius was staring at him disapprovingly.

"The legatus left the castrum not long ago," he told him. "Might I ask what you were doing in his office?"

Percy was silent for a moment, thinking hard about how to recover the situation. In the end, he decided that his only option was to risk the truth.

"Why did you join the legion?" Percy asked.

"What?" Caius replied, taken aback. "That's hardly pertinent to —"

"Just humor me."

The new centurion eyed him inquisitively before answering. "To feed my family, and to serve a bigger purpose than myself."

"Can I trust you?"

"I have only Rome's best interests at heart, but I'm wary of former rebels snooping through the quarters of a superior officer."

"Marcus is a traitor. He's been working with the rebellion from the start."

Caius's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in suspicion. "That's a serious accusation. Why should I believe you?"

"There's proof inside. I can show you."

He examined Percy's face for a few seconds, as if he'd be able to tell if he was lying just by looking at him. Then he said, "Let's see it. But first, hand over your weapon."

Percy reluctantly obeyed then led the way back into Marcus's office. He went straight for the birdcage, the pigeon cooing at him curiously, and retrieved the tiny scrolls. Caius took them and read quickly, his face becoming more distraught with every word he read.

"Who's 'L'?" he asked when he finished.

"Luke," Percy answered. "That's the rebel leader who might be coming to assassinate the consuls."

Caius picked up one of the scrolls.

"'_I've sent my most capable assassin to Neapoli, and he'll do the job when the time is right,_'" he read aloud. "Legatus Gallio is in danger."

"Can you send a pigeon to warn him?"

"We don't know when this letter was sent. It could already be too late."

"We have to try," Percy urged.

He nodded. "I'll send a letter immediately."

"Okay. But other than that, you have to keep this to yourself. You understand that, right?"

Caius didn't answer. He looked deep in thought.

"No one can know about this," Percy insisted. "If we try to bring this out in the open without more substantial proof, Marcus will easily be able to turn it around on us and make it so that _we're_ the traitors."

"You're right," he finally mumbled. "But what will you do?"

"Marcus wanted me out of the city. There has to be a reason. I'm going to follow him and find out what he's planning, and hopefully put a stop to it. Well, actually, hopefully there won't be anything _to_ stop, but I doubt it."

"Can you handle that by yourself?"

"I won't be by myself, I hope."

"What does that mean?"

"It's not important. Just lay low and keep this a secret for a bit. Uh, centurion." He added, remembering he was speaking to his commanding officer.

Caius blinked, appearing to also have forgotten their ranks. "Right. Well, good luck, legionnaire."

Percy collected the scrolls once again and returned them to where they belonged then took his sword back from Caius. He exited the office — this time being careful to make sure the coast was clear first — and left the praetorium.

He traveled through the castrum with his things and acted like he was on his way out of the city, as he'd been instructed to do. After passing under the castrum gate he took a road that led to the coast instead of the city's exit. He reached the dock and then jumped into the sea, ignoring the confused passersby.

He sank to the bottom until his feet touched the seabed. He could still breathe fine and felt completely dry.

He looked around for a moment and a memory suddenly came to him. This was where he'd taken Reyna right before he left for the meeting. He couldn't remember feeling happier than at that moment, when everything seemed to be going just right and all he had to worry about was how to make her as happy as he was. He and Reyna still enjoy their time alone together, but that was the last true moment of bliss before everything had changed. He felt sad and wondered if life would ever feel that simple again.

Percy reached out a hand and commanded the water to obey him. He used it to dig a deep pit in the sand and then formed a pocket of air inside it. He removed his armor and dropped it and his sword into the hole before manually filling it back in, hoping the sand would protect his gear from the water. Once he was done, he shot himself up to the surface.

His feet touched dry land and he looked around, contemplating where to go next. He looked off in the direction of the Curia Hostilia, the building where the Senate meets, and knew Reyna would be somewhere nearby, guarding the consuls. He wanted to go to her. He wanted to tell her what he'd learned. He wanted her to help him figure out this difficult situation, but he knew he couldn't. Doing so would take him out of his way and waste valuable time. It would also risk him being caught disobeying Marcus's orders. As much as he hated to admit it, this was a problem he had to solve without her.

His feet carried him away from the pier and toward a market place. If he wanted to keep an eye on Marcus while going unnoticed, ditching the armor wouldn't be enough. He needed a disguise.

A stall covered with different linens and fabrics caught his eye and he approached it. The owner gave him a wide smile and began describing his wares. Percy cut him off and told him what he needed, handed over the denarii, and then walked away with his purchases. He found a secluded alleyway and changed.

He now wore a brand new pair of leather boots, a pair of black, form-fitting trousers, a sleeveless blue tunic that extended down to his knees, and finally, a hooded shawl. The shawl was the only thing he really needed in order to go unnoticed, but he had the coin and was long overdue for some new clothes anyway, so he decided to splurge. Now he could easily pass for a random civilian.

He instinctively reached to his hip to feel the handle of his sword before remembering it wasn't there. He felt so exposed without it, but knew that keeping it would draw unwanted eyes to him. The only weapon he had on him now was the dagger Reyna had given him at the rebels' homestead. It'd serve him well enough, but he wasn't nearly as good with one as Annabeth, who'd mastered the weapon.

With his new clothes on, Percy was ready to fulfill his task. All he had to do now was actually find Marcus. He could go back to the castrum and see if he'd returned yet or he could even check all the other castra in the city, but he had a better idea.  
Percy dropped to his knees, closed his eyes, and prayed.

"Uh, hey," he whispered. "I don't know who you are, but you've been watching and helping me recently; I'm not sure why. But I need to ask you to help me one more time. Marcus is a traitor, and I think he's planning something. I have to put a stop to it, but I don't think I can do it on my own. If you can hear me, I'm begging you for help with this. Whatever boon you may ask of me in return, I'll do it willingly."

A sudden and warm breeze met his skin and he smiled, taking that as a "yes".

* * *

Percy woke up alert, and he didn't know why. His eyes were crusty, mind was slightly fuzzy, and limbs felt heavy. His entire body was telling him to roll over and go back to sleep, but knew he hadn't woken up randomly.

He got to his feet and took a second to fully wake himself up before going over to the window of the inn room he was renting for the night and pushed open the window. A warm gust of air immediately brushed past him before it was replaced by the chill night air. He took that as a sign and pulled on his clothes and boots before climbing out the window.

He made straight for the ninth and tenth cohorts' castrum at a brisk pace and arrived a few minutes later. Sure enough, as he'd suspected, Marcus was marching away from the praetorium and toward the castrum gate. Percy, still outside the walls, ducked to the side of the gate and waited.

As the legatus got closer, Percy could hear him mumbling to himself. He passed through the gate and continued into the city. Marcus walked within arm's reach of him, but didn't see him. As he did so, Percy could just make out the words "do it myself." He began to follow him.

For the past two days, Percy had stalked the traitor throughout his daily activities. His efforts had availed naught, although he did find Marcus was getting more agitated and impatient by the day. He was being even more aggressive to his subordinates than usual and being more haphazard in his duties. It wasn't anything to convict him over, but the strange behavior all but confirmed his suspicions that he was planning something.

After watching Marcus end the day by going into his office and not coming out for over an hour, Percy had peeked through his window and saw the man asleep. He'd assumed that he'd stay there until the following day and went off to get some rest as well. Whatever powerful being was watching over him was showing him otherwise.

Marcus didn't walk for very long. He proceeded closer to the very center of the city and then turned down a road into a wealthier district. He then arrived at three adjacent buildings: one was obviously a barracks, another could only be the Curia Hostilia, and the third was a large estate with a pair of legionnaires guarding the front entrance that only an extremely wealthy person could afford to own. Marcus walked around the side of the third building and entered through an entrance that, for some reason, had been left unguarded.

Percy followed him into the building. Marcus quietly walked through the halls and turned left when the hallway split in two directions. He pushed open the door and snuck inside. Percy hesitated for only a moment before doing the same.

In the room, he found a very cozy looking bedroom with a large, feather bed in which lay a man and a woman. Behind it, there was a window with a flower pot on the sill. Standing over the man with a dagger in hand was Marcus himself.

"Stop," said Percy, drawing his own dagger from his boot.

Marcus spun around and stared at Percy with a face of absolute shock.

"_You!"_ he hissed after Percy removed his hood to make his face visible.

"Put the dagger down," Percy said quietly.

"Meddling _Graecus_," Marcus spat. "I should have killed you a long time ago."

"You tried, though, didn't you? It was you who sent those mercenaries after us?"

Marcus didn't respond.

"'_I don't care anymore. Just kill him. Kill that traitor who ruined everything I've ever worked for,_'" Percy quoted. "Didn't really work out for you."

The fury in the legatus's eyes was so intense he could almost feel it radiating off of him.

"Who are they?" Percy asked, referring to the sleeping couple.

"You really are as dumb as I first took you for. That's Lars Caldus — a consul — and his wife."

Percy's eyes widened with realization. He looked at the sleeping figure, who was one of the two most powerful people in the Republic.

"So that's your goal?" said Percy, but his eyes weren't on Marcus. He stared at the flowerpot and concentrated on the water inside. "You want to kill the consuls?"

"No, I'm here to shave their beards," he spat sarcastically.

The water rose from the flower pot and floated down toward the consul's face and hovered there. Percy opened his mouth and started talking at the same time as the water splashed onto his face. "Why now? Why not a long time ago? Or why not wait for Luke to do it for you? Why are you doing this at all?"

Lars's eyes shot open and spotted Percy and Marcus, the latter not noticing anything had changed. Percy shot him a warning look and the consul kept silent.

"Fuck Luke," Marcus growled. "I'm done with that idiot. He had the power to bring the Republic crashing to the ground and he threw it all away. He culled half his forces and then ran like a coward after I warned him you were going after the rest. Now there's no one to stand up to Rome's iron fist."

"So why are you doing this then, legatus? Consul is only a one year title. Why risk your life and position to kill someone who'll be out of power within just a few months?"

"It's not about removing them from power," Marcus answered. "It's about sending a message."

"To whom?"

"To everyone. The Senate, the other legati, the nations Rome has yet to conquer. If the most guarded people in Rome can be killed in broad daylight —"

"It's night," Percy commented.

Marcus ignored him. "— then it shows that Rome isn't as powerful as they'd like you to believe. It shows everyone that they _are _vulnerable and not impervious to attack. Maybe someone less stupid than your old leader will get the message and take up the sword."

"'Maybe.' You're risking everything for a 'maybe'? This is an extreme gamble to take."

"I've waited my entire life for an opportunity like the rebellion to show up, and then it came and went. I'm done waiting."

"Well, you waited too long. Just a few days sooner and you could have done it without me ever discovering your treachery."

"It matters not. Once I kill you, I'll finish what I came here to do. Then I'll be seen as the hero who took down the consuls' assassin."

"I'm afraid not, Marcus," said Lars Caldus.

The legatus turned around and looked at the wide-awake consul in horror. Percy took the opportunity to strike and went straight for Marcus's dagger, but the man was a lot faster than he'd anticipated. Marcus sidestepped him and drew his sword, so he was holding both it and a dagger. He swung at Percy who rolled out of the way. His sword struck the wall loudly, causing Lars's wife to wake up and scream.

Percy took a defensive stance and raised his dagger, ready to parry Marcus's next strike. Marcus feinted a thrust with his sword which Percy blocked but Marcus's dagger came immediately after. Percy dodged too late and the blade grazed his cheek.

Percy couldn't remember what happened next. All he knew was that as soon as the dagger touched his skin, he went on autopilot. The next thing he could recall, the legatus was disarmed and unconscious on the ground.

Percy sheathed his dagger and turned to look at the consul, who was calming down his frightened wife. He didn't realize how much pent up anger he'd had, but was just glad he had enough control to not kill Marcus.

"What's your name, legionnaire?" Lars asked.

"Perseus," he answered.

"Perseus," the consul repeated with recognition in his voice. "You're the Greek."

Percy nodded.

"I owe you a great debt," Lars told him. "Rome does. To think a former Greek rebel would be saving the Republic from the renowned Legatus Marcus Lurio II." He gave a hollow chuckle.

The realization that he'd never heard Marcus's full name before slapped him in the face.

"I'd speak with you in private at a later time," said the consul. "But right now I'll need you to fetch a pair of legionnaires to drag this man to a cell. Then you can go take a look at your cheek."

"Yes, sir," said Percy.

* * *

With his armor and sword back on his person, Percy entered the praetorium and walked to the door he'd become quite familiar with. He knocked, and it opened shortly after, revealing Reyna in her brand new armor and purple cape.

"Legatus," he greeted with a grin.

For saving their lives and unveiling Marcus's treason, the consuls insisted Percy be rewarded. They'd asked what they could do to repay the debt they owed him and he only asked that Reyna be promoted after having her rank unjustly stolen from her by the traitor in question. They brought the notion before the Senate who surprisingly saw fit to give her Marcus's recently vacated position rather than her old title of centurion. Neither he nor Reyna had been expecting that but they both knew she was more than qualified for the job.

"Perseus," she said without a smile.

"You're still mad at me."

She did a motion with her hand that said, "Obviously."

"Come on," he complained. "You know I would have gone to you had there been an opportunity."

"I was stationed only a few minutes' walk away from the inn you chose to stay in."

"I didn't want to go too far away from Marcus."

"You told Caius and didn't tell me."

"I didn't really have a choice in that matter."

She looked unimpressed.

"He caught me sneaking into Marcus's office!" he protested.

"That doesn't force you to keep _me _in the dark."

He looked sheepishly at the ground. She was right. He could have easily gone to her with the information, but chose not to.

"Can I make it up to you?" he asked.

She looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "You can." She then started leaning toward him.

He only allowed himself to be surprised for a moment before taking the hint and going in for the kiss as well. Before their lips could connect, however, her finger pressed against his mouth, stopping him.

"You can accompany me in interrogating Marcus," she whispered in his ear. The faintest smirk appeared at the corner of her mouth.

"Sounds romantic," he muttered dejectedly.

She closed the door of the room she'd just moved back into and began walking toward the praetorium's exit. Percy followed her. The two of them traversed through the castrum and arrived in the same prison building where Percy slept. Once inside, instead of going down a level to his cell, they went to the end of the ground level toward the cell in the very back. Behind the bars sat their former legatus. Seeing him without his armor was very foreign to him. He looked so unnatural.

"Hmph," Marcus sounded without giving more than a glance to either of them. "The Greek and his bitch."

"Watch your tongue, Marcus," Percy warned. "She's the legatus now."

He looked at her again and noticed the cape. He scowled. "Figures. What do you want?"

"We wish to talk," said Reyna, her expression steely.

"And if I refuse? What'll you do then, kill me?" He laughed humorlessly.

Percy and Reyna exchanged a glance.

"When?" Marcus asked grimly.

"Today," Percy answered. "Was it worth it?"

The traitor glared at him. "I had to try. I spent my entire life praying for the Republic to pay for their crimes, and couldn't just go back to waiting after Luke ruined the only opportunity that presented itself."

"But why? Why betray Rome? Whatever happened to 'I don't like traitors'?"

"I never had any loyalty to Rome. I joined because I was alone and starving. I learned to fight and was damn good at it, but never wanted to go to war. I watched my friends and comrades slain before my very eyes because Rome decided their already vast reach _wasn't good enough_! It's just war after war, conquering city after city, and I wanted it to end."

"Your plans would only breed chaos," said Reyna. "Violence leads to more violence. There's no such thing as just 'one last war'. The Republic falls and suddenly there are several armies fighting over its remains and then someone new rises to power, ready to fight more wars to defend the cities they've conquered."

Marcus didn't reply.

"How did you know Luke?" Percy asked. "How did you two come to be working together?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"I would."

Marcus sighed. "Guess it doesn't matter now. When the rebellion first cropped up, _I _sailed to Hadrumetum personally to 'deal with' them. I captured a couple of your spies and had them lead me to their leader, and that's when I made a deal with Luke."

"What spies?" Percy asked quickly.

"A boy barely of age and his older sister."

Percy's heart sank. He gripped the bars and asked angrily, "Where are they? What did you do with them?"

"I released them," said Marcus. "As a peace offering. But they heard our exchange and weren't happy with what happened, so Luke had them killed before they could go off and warn you and the others."

Percy stared at him, sure he must have heard him wrong. "_Luke_ killed them?"

"You deaf? It's what I said, wasn't it? He ordered his men to take them down after they started running."

He didn't want to believe him, but knew after everything that had happened that this wasn't out of the question for Luke. The meeting had proved that he wasn't above killing followers that he was no longer happy with.

"Do you know where Luke is?" Percy asked, doing his best to keep his voice calm.

"No. And I wish I did so I could tell you. Either you kill him or he kills you, and I'm happy regardless."

"Too bad you're not outliving either one of us."

"Yeah. Too bad. . ."

Percy turned and walked away. He could hear Reyna's footsteps following him.

"I'm willing to give my life for my beliefs!" Marcus yelled after them. "Can you even tell me what yours are, _turncoat_?"

Percy and Reyna left the building and the door slammed shut behind them. Once outside, Percy continued marching away but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Percy," Reyna said gently. "I'm so sorry about your friends."

He didn't say anything for a bit. He was too angry to think clearly.

"Percy. . ." Reyna said with worry in her voice.

"Luke will pay," he promised. "I'll kill him for everything he's done. I swear it on the Styx."

A single clap of thunder shook the sky.


	24. XXIII

The execution was a grim affair. Percy had more reasons than most to be glad for Marcus's death, but that didn't change his discomfort at actually seeing the beheading. Even worse was the crowd of civilians shouting and throwing things at him. Marcus deserved it, that much was a certainty, but the whole thing left a sour taste in his mouth.

As Percy hacked at a straw dummy he lamented the fact that Marcus's death brought him no joy. He wanted to celebrate it and be happy about it, but he wasn't. At least that proved he still had his empathy and was better than his enemies. Perhaps that should have comforted him. It didn't.

The last time he'd been anywhere close to this angry he'd listed off names of the friends he wanted to avenge. If that's what he was doing right now, there'd be two more names added to the list. But right now the only name on his mind was Luke's.

Bianca and Nico had been two of the truest friends he had back in the rebellion. The three of them, being children of the three brothers (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades), were the most powerful demigods in the rebellion, which brought them together. Nico was rare to open up, but was always there to lend an ear or his sword when needed while Bianca's purity and kindness were likely unprecedented in a child of Hades.

She'd once confided in him that she was thinking about leaving the rebellion and wasn't sure how to go about explaining that to her brother. Percy hadn't understood her decision at the time, but supported it regardless. Now he wished he'd urged her to leave sooner so she'd still be alive now.

Deep down he'd always held out hope that the siblings were still out there somewhere, happy and well. That's why he hadn't hesitated when he thought the Romans were holding demigod captives. But he knew they'd never leave without saying goodbye and Nico was too devout to their cause to leave at all. Even though death was the only explanation for their disappearance, having it finally confirmed after all this time was like losing them all over again. It was even worse that it was by Luke's order they were slain.

The sun was really low by the time Percy noticed Reyna entering the praetorium. He was exhausted anyway, so he decided to show the dummy some mercy and sheathed his sword before chasing after her. He caught up to her just as she was stepping through the door to her room. She noticed him right before she closed it and paused. She stared at him contemplatively for a moment before stepping aside and motioning for him to enter. He stepped into the room and she closed the door behind him. He opened his mouth to talk but she spoke first.

"You do trust me, don't you?" she asked.

"What? Of course I do."

"Just not enough to tell me about Marcus."

"It wasn't about not trusting you to keep the secret. I just didn't want to risk being seen by anyone otherwise Marcus would have known I was following him."

"Okay. I understand."

"Wait, really? Just like that?"

"Yes. I realized that I wasn't really mad at _you_. I was more resentful that I never realized his betrayal and that it wasn't _me_ who stopped him."

"To be fair, I wouldn't have known either had it not been for divine intervention."

She nodded in understanding, having already heard him explain about the mysterious deity that was watching over him.

"Marcus has been making my life difficult ever since I joined the legion," Reyna told him. "I guess I just always dreamed of being the one to finally take him down a peg. But then you came along and took him down several without me even noticing."

"Sorry?"

She shook her head and smirked. "I'm just glad you were here when Rome needed you."

"Right."

"You look nice, by the way."

He looked down and remembered his change of clothes. His armor was back in his cell. "Thanks. Your new armor is pretty fancy, but I think you look better without it."

"Is that so?" She took a step closer to him and had a coy smile. "Maybe you should help me take it off?"

"Oh. Is _that_ what you want to do right now?" he asked playfully.

She unstrapped her bracers and let them fall to the floor. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know, now that _I'm_ legatus, I think we can find you better accommodations than a cell."

"Where would you rather I sleep?" he inquired, even though he already knew the answer.

She responded by kissing him.

* * *

Percy opened his eyes and his first thought was, _why am I so short?_ He looked down and was standing barefoot in the sand at the edge of the sea. He was at the coast of the Mare Nostrum, but he wasn't in Rome.

An object in the sky caught his attention. A speck grew bigger and bigger until he could tell it was a bird. It flew straight towards him and then hovered in front of his face. Now that it was close he realized the bird was actually made completely out of metal. It turned and flew away a short distance before turning back to look at him expectantly. Percy took that as a sign and ran after it.

The bird led him along the coast for a couple of minutes and then a bit inland. It passed by some rocks and a few sparse trees until they arrived at a wooden shack. The door opened, revealing an old man with long grey hair and some kind of bronze braces on both his legs. He was leaning on a fancy looking metal cane and staring at him curiously. He raised one arm and the mechanical bird landed on his wrist.

"Step forward, boy," the old man ordered.

Percy did so cautiously, not really sure what to think of him.

The bird chittered and the old man nodded as if he understood what it was saying. "You have a strong aura around you, child," he said.

"Who are you?" Percy asked.

"My name is Daedalus, and I'm here to help you."

His vision went blurry and when he could see clearly again, he was somewhere else. He was his normal height again and standing behind a crowd of people in Rome's forum. Upon a raised dais were a handful of legionnaires, Lars Caldus, and Marcus. Standing behind Marcus, one of the legionnaires was quite muscular and held a greatsword in his hand.

Everyone's faces suddenly went out of focus, except for Marcus's. The former legatus began aging. His hair grew longer and turned gray. The legionnaire pushed him onto his knees. By the time his head was on the chopping block, it was no longer Marcus. The sword came down and it was Daedalus's head that fell.

Percy woke in a sweat. He sat up so quickly that Reyna shifted beside him. Her eyes fluttered open and he felt guilty for waking her. She looked at him with a worried expression and sat up a bit, her shoulders bare. He knew the rest of her was bare beneath the blanket as well.

It really goes to show how quickly things changed. If he'd learned a few days ago that he'd be waking up naked in bed with his legatus, he'd have thrown himself from a cliff before whatever mental sickness that caused him to do that could take him.

"What's wrong?" Reyna asked.

"Nothing," Percy answered. "Just a dream."

She nodded sympathetically.

"Go back to sleep," he told her.

Her eyes glazed past him toward the window and she groaned.

"Too late for that," she said.

He glanced out the window himself and saw a brightening sky. He sighed then pushed the blanket off himself and stood. He found his clothes and threw them on. When he glanced behind him he saw Reyna's eyes quickly dart away from him and she had reddened cheeks. He smirked.

Gods he loved her. It still amazed him how much her facade contrasted with her actual personality. He never would have even dreamed of falling in love with the cold and stern woman he'd met back in Carthage. Of course, that woman was no different than the one he'd just woken up with. She'd never changed; she only stopped hiding her true self from him. He understood why she kept so much buried deep inside around anyone she didn't call her friend, but it made him sad that so few people would ever get to know the person she truly was. He could only imagine how alone she'd feel without him or Jason around.

While she dressed Percy poured some water out of a flagon into a pair of goblets and took a seat at her desk. Eventually, she was fully clothed and sat down opposite him. She took the second goblet and downed it instantly before pouring out some more.

"Any word from Gallio?" Percy asked her.

"You just want to get straight to business, then?" said Reyna.

"We haven't got time to waste. Both the consuls and Gallio are in danger."

She sighed. "You're right. We haven't received any messages from Neapoli yet. I sent a second pigeon yesterday just to be safe."

"Good. We can only hope that'll be enough."

There was a pause before Reyna spoke again. "As for Luke. . ."

"Marcus's failed assassination attempt all but proves the consuls are his target. If I want to stop them, I think the best place to be is by their side."

Reyna didn't respond.

"Do you have a different idea?" Percy asked.

"Percy. . ." she said gently. "I'm concerned."

"About what?"

"You."

"What —?"

"Percy, you made an unbreakable oath. Luke needs to be stopped once and for all, of that there is no doubt, but I'm worried you swore upon the river Styx for the wrong reasons."

"And what reasons would those be?" he asked flatly.

"Vengeance. Spite. I don't want to see you do anything reckless."

"How is killing Luke and ending his plans of conquest reckless?"

"It's not. I'm not trying to stop you from keeping your vow."

"What are you trying to tell me then? You think I'd lose?"

"I think you'd win, but I fear what that victory will cost you. I'd hate for you to lose yourself to hatred."

Percy averted his eyes. He remembered meeting Luke for the first time and the day they raised him to be their leader. He recalled the stories Annabeth told him about her travels with him and Thalia. Then he remembered the person Luke had become, and the things that had paved the road he'd taken. By making that promise, Percy had taken his first steps down that same road.

"I'm sorry," he said truthfully. He paused for a moment. "I'll take some time to think, _while_ I'm guarding the consuls. Then when I meet Luke again, I hope I'll kill him because I have to and not because I want to."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "That's all I needed to hear. Now go eat and bathe. Then we can send you off to your new position."

"As you command, legatus."

* * *

Percy was beginning to regret his choice. Presently he stood to one side of the main entrance of the consuls' estate with another legionnaire standing at the opposite side. This job was so unbelievably _boring_. All it entailed was just standing there for a long period of time and waiting for something — _anything_ at all — to happen, and Percy wasn't a patient man. He could fight down a whole army of monsters before he ever won a battle against tedium.

The other legionnaire had been no help, either. Percy had tried to strike up a conversation with him, but they'd run out of things to talk about way too quickly. He didn't understand how he could be so content with his duties; how he could simply accept the monotony of standing guard for so long without even appearing to be annoyed. Perhaps it was just experience, but Percy seriously hoped that _he_ wouldn't have to do this job long enough to gain it. He almost wished that Luke would hurry up and try to kill the consuls already so he could stop him and never have to do this again. But when had Luke ever made his life easier?

Eventually, the door opened and both of the consuls themselves exited while in conversation. They proceeded a short distance away from the building before stopping. Four more legionnaires followed behind them — the ones assigned to being actual bodyguards. The consuls finished their conversation and one walked away with two of the guards while Lars Caldus stayed behind. He gave an order to one of the guards and then beckoned Percy toward him. Percy obeyed and the guard took his place at the door.

"Perseus," said Lars. "Walk with me. You —" he pointed at his other bodyguard "— continue trailing behind."

They both nodded and Percy silently thanked the gods, both Greek and Roman, that he didn't have to stand there any longer. Lars began walking and Percy followed beside him.

"So," said Lars. "Talk to me, legionnaire."

"Uh, about what?" Percy asked.

"I don't know. Let's start with: what are you doing here?"

"I need to stop Luke and believe you could be his target."

"No, no. Not here as in my guard. Here as in _Rome_. Why is a Greek son of one of the most feared gods enlisted in a Roman legion?"

"Oh. Well when I found out that the rebellion's plans extended far more than what we'd all said we wanted, I'd tried to hinder said plans from the inside. I was caught out almost immediately, so I came to the next best place I could to try and stop them peacefully." He paused. "That didn't really work out."

"Hmm. And what _was_ it that you wanted?"

"The same things Marcus and Gallio promised at the peace meeting before things went south: for Rome to stop trying to turn us into Romans. We set out to reclaim our right to worship our gods, enjoy our own culture, and to stop having Rome control us so heavily."

"Yes. I remember signing off on those peace offerings. My predecessors were overly paranoid after taking the Greek city-states. Attempting to force our gods on your people was a stupid insult on your people and practically begging for you to come out in open rebellion. I want you to know that even though the rebels didn't keep their end of the bargain, _we_ did. I've received word from said city-states that the people's opposition to us has greatly declined. I can only hope it's enough to keep any more rebellions from springing into action."

"Thank you, sir."

"You needn't thank me. It was in Rome's best interests, and the way things should have been from the start. Now I must ask about this rebel leader."

"Luke?"

"You believe he is coming for me and my colleague?"

"It seems likely. You heard what Marcus said."

"Indeed. Now, if he comes, what do you plan on doing?"

"I'll stop him."

"Then what?"

Percy hesitated. "What do you mean?"

"After Luke is dealt with, what will you do then, demigod? Will you stay in the legion?"

"I don't know what I'll do after Luke is dead," he half-lied. He knew his next goal: saving the gods from their slumber. But he didn't know where to begin in completing that goal. And after _that_ was done, what then?

Marcus's words rang in his mind. _I'm willing to die for my beliefs! Can you even tell me what yours are, _turncoat_?_ What _did_ he believe in? He believed in peace. He believed he needed to save the gods. He believed he loved Reyna. Was that enough?

"No?" said Lars. "I can't pretend to comprehend the whole demigod and destiny thing, but I doubt yours lies in Rome."

"I always have something pushing me forward," Percy confided. "And it's usually some issue. First, it was just trying to survive on my own when I was young. Then it was when I believed Rome was evil. Now it's stopping Luke once and for all. But what'll I do when there are no more problems for me to solve; no more fights to fight?"

"That is your question to answer."

Percy nodded in agreement. Suddenly a picture came into his mind. He saw himself and Reyna, weaponless, holding hands peacefully in a home. There were even a couple of kids running around, playing with wooden swords. The thought was comforting, and left him wanting. For a moment he saw himself living a normal life. Was it too much to hope that that could one day be his reality?

"I voted against allowing you to join the legion," Lars admitted. "I greatly regret that decision now. I am quite lucky I was in the minority there. Fall back in line, legionnaire. It seems you have a lot to think about."

* * *

Percy and a different bodyguard followed Lars through the gate of the first cohort's castrum several days later. As Reyna was still new to her position, it was one of the consuls' jobs to oversee her and make sure she was fulfilling her duties. To no great surprise, she was excelling as legatus. Despite the more _traditional_ legionnaires that felt a man should hold her title instead, she'd managed to command respect and obedience from her underlings.

One time Percy was lucky enough to witness how. He had happened to be in the ninth and tenth cohorts' castrum at the time a particularly outspoken soldier ran his mouth too long. He'd claimed, to some agreement from his comrades, that a woman from the ninth cohort could never perform to Rome's standards. She responded by drawing her sword and saying she'd resign should anyone manage to disarm her. Several legionnaires took her up on her challenge at the same time. Needless to say, she hadn't resigned.

This time, however, he didn't get to see anything so spectacular. As they strode through the castrum, they saw Reyna speaking with her primus pilus, Lucius Cato. As they got closer, he realized they were having some sort of argument, which ended the second they noticed them approaching.

"Ah, consul," Cato greeted. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Legatus," said Lars, addressing Reyna first. "Primus pilus. I'm just her supervising things."

Reyna gave Percy a subtle smile before turning her attention to her boss. "I'm afraid I don't have much to report today, sir. Things are running smoothly."

"And that little heated discussion you appeared to be having before I came over?" the consul asked.

"Just a simple disagreement. Nothing worth your time."

"That'll be for me to decide. Now, tell —"

"Primus pilus!" a voice shouted from atop the wall, causing Lars to stop mid-sentence. "You need to see this!"

They all glanced at each other before turning and walking to the closed gate leading out of the city. As they approached it, Percy could make out a few figures behind it: a pair of men and some sort of large object.

Reyna recognized them before he did.

"Open the gate!" she ordered.

A legionnaire immediately began turning the crank and the gate began to lift. Standing outside the castrum was Jason Grace. Behind him, he dragged the severed head of some large monster. Next to him, bound in chains, was Luke.


	25. XXIV

The gate fully opened and Jason shoved Luke through it and then dragged the severed monster head in behind him. Percy should have been elated that his friend was back. He should have been confused that there was a giant monster's head with him. He should have been wondering how it was possible that he had Luke in chains. But in that moment, the only thing that registered in his mind was that Luke was _here_.

He lost control of himself. His feet carried him forward and his fist connected with the side of Luke's face. He stumbled back at the force of the blow but annoyingly remained on his feet. He raised his chained hands to his cheek but showed no other signs of pain. Percy tried to go for a second strike but Jason caught a firm grip on his arm, holding him back. Percy looked into his face and the stern look he gave him was enough to bring him back to his senses. He shook himself free of the grasp and retreated a few steps, glaring at his former strategos all the while.

"How is he here?" Percy asked without moving his gaze. Luke merely stared at him with hate clear in his eyes whilst remaining silent.

"I ran into him on my quest," Jason answered. "Put up a good fight, but not good enough. As soon as I had him in chains I came straight back here."

"That doesn't make any sense. There's no way he'd —"

"I know. We'll exchange stories later," he said while staring curiously at Reyna with her new armor and cape.

"Well!" said Cato, interrupting the reunion. "If it isn't the deserter in question."

"Lucius," Reyna said with a warning tone.

"Argue all you want, _legatus_, but the fact of the matter is that he _did_ abandon in his duties."

"And now he's back, in uniform, delivering to us the most wanted man on this side of the Mare Nostrum."

"As well as this. . . _monstrosity_," he said, gesturing to the head. A crowd of legionnaires began to form around them, gawking at it.

"_Why_ did you bring this into my castrum? It's making a mess of the place!"

"I'd thought that it might prove to Marcus that I had good reason for not coming back immediately," Jason answered.

"Well Marcus won't be punishing you, that's for sure." Cato spat at Luke's feet, who barely reacted.

Jason looked confused but didn't comment.

"I think," Lars inserted, "That regardless of what _did_ happen, I'll defer to the judgment of the senior officer."

Reyna nodded appreciatively while Cato bit his tongue and clenched his fists.

"But I do have to agree with the primus pilus on one matter," said Lars. "This _thing_ needs to be disposed of."

"You're not wrong, consul," Percy concurred whilst staring at Luke. "But we should do something about the head as well."

Jason snorted and Reyna smirked while Luke only continued in his silent glaring.

"Amusing," Lars commented. "Legatus, take care of all this. Perseus, escort me back to the Curia Hostilia and then I'll have a different legionnaire relieve you of your duties for the day."

He nodded. Lars turned and headed toward the castrum's exit. Percy waved at Jason and Reyna before following the consul alongside the other bodyguard. He could hear the latter of the two begin delegating orders behind him as they walked away.

* * *

Later, in Reyna's office, the three demigods sat around her desk. Reyna volunteered the events that occurred post-Jason-leaving-with-Juno first. Despite being impatient to hear how he'd captured Luke, Percy remained silent while she explained.

"Wow," Jason commented once she'd finished. "I never would have guessed. Marcus was pretty much as Roman as they get."

"Yet he seemed to hate the Republic as much as — if not more than — Luke," said Percy.

"Well great job uncovering that before it was too late. I can only imagine what would have happened if you hadn't."

"I didn't do it on my own."

"Right. So you don't have any idea what this mysterious. . . entity is that's been helping you?"

"Not one, but that's not important at the moment. _How_ did you manage to find Luke?"

"I didn't."

"What?" said Reyna.

"He found me," Jason answered. "After I left with Juno, she told me the Trojan sea monster —"

"Cetus," Percy interrupted. "The one my namesake slew."

"Right. Well, like all monsters, it reformed in Tartarus and eventually found its way back to the surface. Juno told me it set up a nest somewhere in the middle of the Mare Nostrum and had been staying idle there for a few centuries until recently. Cetus abandoned his nest and started veering too close to the shore, so Juno told me to kill him before he decided to start destroying cities. It took me a while to track it down, but I eventually did and fought it until it fell. Shortly after, Luke attacked me as I was heading back toward Rome."

"But why, though?" Reyna asked.

"I don't know. I felt that after everything Percy said about his skills that I beat him too easily. It was almost as if he _wanted_ me to capture him."

"This doesn't make any sense," Percy muttered.

"Well obviously he's planning something, right?" said Reyna.

Percy just nodded absentmindedly.

"We'll need to keep a close watch on him at all times. The consuls have insisted on following tradition and leaving the trial open for public viewing, which only allows more people into a confined space. Do you know if he could have any more allies to make use of here?"

"No," Percy answered. "I don't think he does. He abandoned his followers, the ones who killed their own friends for him. I don't know why he'd do that, but I know if he doesn't want them working for him then he won't have _anyone_ working for him."

"Hmm. I just don't understand it. Being chained in the heart of the Republic and surrounded by the might of an entire legion is the worst possible place he could find himself. I can't think of any plan he could come up with that would turn that in his favor."

"He doesn't think like we do. He's always been cunning and patient. He liked taking risks, but only when he knew for a certainty that he could manipulate the odds in his favor. But I can't even begin to understand how different the man I followed is to the man he's become. Would he give his own life to meet his goals, whatever they may be?" Percy leaned back in his seat and raked his hands through his hair, frustrated that he knew so little. "I need to talk to him."

"I'm not sure how well that's going to go for you," said Jason. "After our fight, he didn't say a single word all the way here."

"I have to try."

"I'll go with you," Reyna offered.

Percy opened his mouth to protest, but changed his mind. "Yeah, okay. I actually think it'll be good to not be alone around him."

They both stood.

"You should get some rest," Reyna told Jason.

"Well, I can't say I don't need it," Jason acquiesced. He pushed himself out of his chair and went toward the door before them.

"Jason," Reyna said before he could leave. "It's good to have you back."

He smiled appreciatively and exited the room. Percy and Reyna followed him out and then separated from him after they left the praetorium. Jason headed to the barracks while they walked to the prison building. They opened the door and stepped inside.

Every castrum — including Cato's — contains a place for holding criminals, but Reyna had Luke locked up in the ninth's and tenth's due to it being the closest one to the Curia Hostilia, where he'd be standing trial in two days. Plus, it's always a good idea to keep your enemies close so you don't lose track of them.

They walked all the way to the end of the ground level where two guards were standing outside the same cell Marcus had previously occupied. They watched them approach with curious eyes. Reyna ordered them to wait for her outside and they hesitated for only a moment before silently nodding and obeying.

Inside the cell, Luke laid casually on the cot with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. Percy approached the bars and could see just enough of a subtle reaction to know he was wide awake.

"Luke," he said.

The rebel didn't say anything.

"Why are you here?"

There was no response.

"What are you planning?"

Silence.

"Why did you abandon the rebels that were loyal to you?"

Nothing.

Percy pounded his fists on the bars. "Say something!"

Luke opened his eyes but kept his lips closed. His face contorted as if he were fighting between showing his hatred and maintaining a cool resolve, but still, he said nothing.

"You know, Rome freely gave over everything I thought were fighting for when I still considered you a friend," Percy told him.

"They've loosened their grip on the people; stopped trying to control how the citizens of former Greece live their lives; and they've allowed us to worship our gods again."

He was glaring at him now, not even trying to look calm anymore. Percy had never had such a look of pure, unbridled loathing directed at him before. Despite how much he returned the feelings, he couldn't help remembering what it was like to believe in this man, and he felt hurt.

"Are you going to say anything?" he asked.

Luke didn't answer, which, in itself, _was_ his answer.

Deciding the interrogation was going nowhere, Percy gave up.

"Your trial is in two days. Silence will only serve to hurt you there," he warned.

With that, he turned his back on Luke and left with Reyna following behind him. Once they were outside, the guards returned through the doorway to resume their posts outside his cell. Reyna turned her gaze on him.

"Have you ever known him to be so quiet?" she asked him.

Percy shook his head.

"Perhaps he just doesn't trust himself to not accidentally reveal his plans to you," she offered.

"I doubt it's that simple," he replied.

"I'm assigning you to the consuls' side during the trial. If he does have some sort of trick up his sleeve, you'll be there to stop him."

"It'd be so much easier just to kill him now."

"That's _not_ how Rome does things. We must follow due process."

"We already know he's guilty. This trial is just a pointless formality that serves only to give him more time to escape."

"He _wanted_ to be here. If his plan was to escape then why bother getting himself captured in the first place?"

He thought about it, but came up empty. "I don't know. I only hope we don't find out the hard way."

After working for the entire morning, Percy was given leisure time lasting until the trial. He was very annoyed by this. Reyna was too busy commanding a legion and setting up the security for the trial and Jason was making up for his absence by working harder and longer than usual. That left Percy alone with nothing but his anxiety about the upcoming event to keep him company. At least if he had responsibilities they'd be able to take his mind off of it.

He'd attempted one of his favorite pastimes of mercilessly assaulting a straw dummy, but that somehow gave him an even clearer headspace to dream up highly improbable scenarios in which Luke tunnels out of the Curia Hostilia before it erupts in Greek fire or an army of mercenaries bust in through the ceiling to assassinate everyone in the room.

Despite his ceaseless worrying, he still couldn't figure out what Luke could possibly have planned to escape justice and likely kill the consuls. He had many ideas, but none that were actually feasible for him to accomplish.

Percy's patience finally wore thin while aimlessly wandering around the castrum. He'd given his best efforts to try and think about anything other than Luke but failed utterly. So rather than driving himself insane and wasting more time, a burst of determination made him walk to the prison building. He'd attempted talking to him again the previous day, but was met with the same results. This time he _had_ to get him to say something.

Once inside he managed to convince the guards to leave for a bit. He found Luke in the same position as last time — lounging in his cot with his arms crossed behind his head. He opened his eyes when Percy stopped in front of his cell but still, unsurprisingly, said nothing.

"The trial is maybe an hour away," Percy told him.

Luke didn't respond.

Percy sighed. "You know, you're going to be standing during the entire thing. You could make it go quicker and save yourself some sore legs by just answering my questions right now."

He rolled his eyes.

"Where's Annabeth?"

Luke calmly got to his feet and stepped closer to the bars.

"Is she here in Rome somewhere, still being manipulated by you? Or did you kill her like everyone else who believed in you?"

Luke's hand shot out between the bars, but Percy saw it coming and backed out of his reach. Luke retracted his arm and gripped the bars with both of them, his hateful blue eyes trained on him.

"Too many people died for your goals, which haven't even come close to coming to fruition. What do you hope to accomplish now?"

Luke let go of the bars and turned to face the back wall. He rested his hands on top of his head.

"You're alone now, because of the choices _you_ made. You had a family; people that cared for and relied on you, and they're in the Underworld now because of you."

Luke ran his hands down his face and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Annabeth cared about you. She loved you more than she ever loved me. She —"

"You don't think I know that?" Luke finally snapped. He turned and faced him with his arms crossed behind his back. "You don't think I wanted to love her too? You don't think I tried?"

Percy just stared at him, stunned.

"No matter what I did or how hard I tried," said Luke, "she could never take the place of _her_."

"Thalia," Percy realized.

"Don't you dare say her name! You, a _Roman_, have no right to say her name!"

"Is that what this is about?"

"It's what it's _always_ been about. She was my everything, and she was taken from me."

"But what does that have to do with Rome? She was killed by a monster."

"You weren't there!" Luke stepped back and took a deep breath.

Percy waited patiently for him to explain.

"You know I used to live here?" Luke revealed. "In this very city. After the Romans conquered our cities my mother and I fled here hoping to find a better life away from the oppression Greek citizens faced at the hands of them. She tried to find work and begged for help on the streets but could barely earn enough pity from passersby to feed her and me. The Romans treated us like trash and spat at us as they walked by. It drove her insane. I was just a kid and had to learn to steal just to avoid starving to death.

"Eventually though, I ran away and I met Thalia. We left this wretched city together and found out the hard way that monsters could smell our scent. She saved my life a dozen times before we reached Athens and came across Annabeth, but found that city to be even worse than Rome. You couldn't turn a single corner without seeing a Roman soldier. So we fled from there too. And you know what happened?"

"You were tricked into a cyclops' lair," Percy remembered.

"Yeah. The three of us managed to escape, but she took a heavy hit. Thought we bandaged it up nice enough until she started getting weaker and it got to the point I had to carry her. I practically ran all the way back to Athens to find a healer who could give us some medicine, and they turned us away at the gate. The woman I loved was dying in my arms and the Romans wouldn't let us into the city! She died because of _them_!"

Percy stared at him sympathetically for a moment before remembering himself.

"And now Nico, Bianca, Clarisse, Michael —"

"Stop."

"— Castor, Lee, Katie, Silena, Laurel —"

"I said stop!"

"Clovis, Holly, Will —"

Luke continued protesting, but Percy didn't stop until he'd said every last one of their names.

"— Travis, Connor, Chiara, Aulus, Alexi, a castrum full of legionnaires, and two innocent coachmen are all dead because of you. That's not even to mention Marcus and the loyalists that you also led to their deaths."

"I don't care!" Luke shouted. "Say their names to me a hundred times over and it won't make a difference. _Any_ price is a price I'm willing to pay to see them get what they deserve!"

Percy looked at him in shock. "You're insane."

"You don't know anything about me, traitor."

"Where's Annabeth?"

"It doesn't matter."

"What did you do to her?"

"She was a traitor just like everyone else."

"Is that the only word you know? If Thalia walked through that door right now, would you call her a traitor too?"

"I told you not to say her name!"

"What did you do with Annabeth?"

Luke just sneered.

"Answer me!" Percy demanded.

He resumed his silence.

"I swear to the gods if you —" he stopped abruptly and clenched his fists, the mere thought too much for him to bear.

Luke said nothing.

"I want you to know," said Percy, "that after you're sentenced to execution, it'll be _me_ who swings the sword."  
When Luke still didn't respond, Percy took his leave of his presence.

* * *

The Curia Hostilia was a large, circular building with a wide-open floor in the center. Lining the back half of the wall were layered platforms, like giant stairs, on top of which had to be around three hundred chairs — most of them were empty. Raised slightly above those seats directly opposite the building's entrance was a semi-balcony with two more seats and enough space for a couple of people to stand behind them. Covering the other half of the walls on either side of the door were many benches set up in a similar layout to the chairs. These were almost completely filled up by random civilians who had come to watch the trial.

Percy followed the consuls across the big open floor with everyone's eyes on them. As they climbed the steps, Percy counted a few dozen senators in their seats, more than three-quarters of them absent. Seeing as a single man's trial was hardly important enough to warrant the entire body, most of their presences were optional. Choosing not to attend was a wise choice in Percy's mind.

The senators took their seats on the tiny balcony and Percy took position behind them. While waiting for the accused to show up, Percy made note of the security. There were two legionnaires flanking the building's only entrance and one on either side where the senators' chairs met the civilians' benches. There were also another half dozen soldiers lining the floor directly in front of the senators — two of them were Legatus Reyna herself and Jason — and on a balcony above the door, three archers stood ready. Most would call this overkill, but Percy feared it wouldn't be enough.

The room itself was actually quite gloomy. There were only two windows on the walls — one behind the consuls and himself and one behind the archers. The only other source of natural light came from the door, which would close once the trial started. The rest of the lighting came from torches lining the walls and a few pairs of braziers down on the floor. Percy couldn't imagine a senator's life being anything but depressing if they had to spend so much time in this building.

Finally, after many anxious minutes, the door slammed shut behind three figures. A pair of soldiers ushered a chained Luke to the center of the floor and then took position a short distance behind him. His eyes scanned the room for a few seconds before settling on Percy.

Atilius Audens, the consul Percy wasn't familiar with, spoke in a voice that echoed against the walls. "Luke, self-proclaimed strategos of the Greek rebellion, you stand before The Senate and People of Rome as well as the gods themselves. You are accused of treason, multiple accounts of murder, and conspiring to assassinate Legatus Gallio of the Neapolitan legion, Consul Lars Caldus, and myself, Consul Atilius Audens. How do you plead?"

Everyone watched him with bated breath, but Luke didn't answer. His eyes remained on Percy and he sneered, but remained otherwise motionless.

"Failure to defend yourself will be accepted as an admission of guilt," Atilius told him. "I repeat my question: how do you plead?"

Luke took two slow steps forward and parted his lips, but no words came out. A small object fell from his mouth and landed in his chained hands. Before anyone could react, he threw it on the ground.

_Poof!_

A cloud of smoke rapidly billowed from the object, obscuring the entire floor and everyone standing on it. Percy strained his eyes but couldn't see Luke anymore. There was coughing and the sound of swords being drawn followed by the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor. Footsteps could be heard followed by the door opening. And then there was silence.

Seconds passed and the smoke finally began to thin. Soon, it was gone. On the floor lay a single legionnaire with blood pooling around his throat. Both his sword and Luke were missing. Reyna led the other soldiers out of the building after him while one stayed behind to kneel beside his fallen comrade. The audience erupted into panicked murmurs. Atilius began speaking to calm them while Percy made to chase after Luke, but Lars caught his wrist.

"Wait," the consul said quietly to him.

"What? He's getting away!" Percy protested.

"Luke waited until now to play that little trick. Assuming he was hiding that smoke thing in his mouth the whole time, he could have used it at the city gate or any time on the road here. But he waited until this many people were gathered together, and I believe he has to have a reason."

"You think he'll come back?"

"I don't know, but if our deaths are still his objective then I want you to stay here."

Percy relented and stepped back, but kept a hand on the hilt of his sword. He watched the entrance with rapt attention, waiting for Luke to appear through it, _daring _him to.

Minutes passed and he'd begun to fear Luke had slipped through his fingers when a gust of warm wind suddenly blew in through the window. Unlike the previous ones which had been gentle nudges, this one was much harsher, as if it were a warning. Percy quickly drew his sword and turned to see Luke climb through the window with his stolen weapon in hand and his chains missing.

Luke didn't hesitate. He swung and Percy blocked it, but stumbled back into the consuls' chairs. The audience gasped. There wasn't enough room to fight, so he blocked another blow and then dove at Luke, tackling him down the stairs. Percy's back collided with one of the empty chairs and it shattered into splinters. Luke got to his feet first, his sword having fallen out of his grip. Percy raised his and tried to stand, but Luke gave him a taste of his own medicine. He lunged at him and they both toppled down the platforms and past several senators until they reached the lowest level. Percy's sword skidded across the floor.

His armor protected him from a handful of bruises, but the fall still left him pretty dazed as he climbed to his feet while Luke did the same. He could hear bows being drawn and looked up at the archers above the door.

"Stop!" he shouted at them. "He's mine!"

They gave each other confused looks but lowered their bows. Percy glanced at his sword which was closer to Luke than himself. They eyed each other and raised their fists.

"This was a bad plan, Luke," Percy said. "The consuls are up there, and now you're down here."

"They're not my priority anymore," he growled. "I'm here for _you!_"

With that, he dove for the sword, and Percy ran at him. Luke brought the sword up in a wide arc and he had to dive to the side to avoid it. Luke lunged and he sidestepped. Luke brought the sword down in an overhead swing and Percy raised his arms in front of him. The sword was stopped by his bracers. Before Luke could strike again, Percy kicked him in the chest and he stumbled backward but managed to stay on his feet.

"Here!" a voice yelled out.

_Clang!_

The sword that Luke had dropped before hit the ground, having been thrown by one of the senators. Percy didn't miss a beat. He pounced toward it and heard Luke's footsteps racing behind him. He scooped it up and raised it just in time to block Luke's strike. They circled each other, swords at the ready, and then the duel began.

Luke was not out of practice. He was the best swordsman he'd ever known before meeting Jason and Reyna, and now he was doing his best to reclaim his title. He swung, lunged, and slashed with a speed and skill-level that few people in history could boast. Luckily, they'd both been taught by the same teacher, and Percy had new Roman tactics in his repertoire now, too.

Luke swung, Percy parried.

"You — ruined — everything!" Luke shouted between strikes.

Percy didn't respond. He just focused on fighting.

The audience was completely quiet, everyone watching with rapt attention. The repeated sound of their swords connecting echoed across the room.

Luke thrust his sword forward and Percy jumped backward. Luke taunted him forward, but Percy took a stance and raised his sword defensively.

"We could have avenged Daedalus together," Luke spat. "We could have made them pay for everything!"

Footsteps came from behind him, but he didn't look to see the source of them. So long as no one interrupted, he didn't care who was watching.

Percy closed the gap and attacked with a concentrated fervor. He constantly kept his gaze on Luke and watched his sword out of the corners of his eyes. It was better to anticipate future attacks rather than focusing only on the present ones. He timed his strikes carefully, blocked when he needed to, and dodged whenever a potentially lethal attack came his way. Despite all this, he eventually fell for a feint.

"Agh!" he cried out.

Pain seared in his left armpit, a place where he had no armor. He stumbled back and glanced down to see blood leaking down the side of his chestplate — too much blood. Luke had cut him deep with his own sword.

"Percy!" a familiar voice exclaimed, but it sounded distant. The pain only grew more intense, the celestial bronze amplifying the seriousness of the wound.

He dropped his left hand and turned his body sideways to fight with just his right arm, but his vision was becoming blurry. He managed to block Luke's next barrage of attacks, but his movement was slowing down.

Then suddenly, a warm feeling blossomed in his chest and quickly spread throughout his body. His senses sharpened and the pain from his injury became less noticeable. He felt more energized and alert; he felt empowered.

Luke's strikes came even faster, but he was ready for them now. With this strange burst of energy, he was actually quicker than before he'd taken a hit. But he could already feel the effect wearing off. He needed to end this soon.

_Clang! Clink! Clash!_

Over the course of several seconds, their swords connected half a dozen times, and then Luke's guard slipped. Percy didn't let the opportunity pass him by. Two more swings and Percy's sword fell out of Luke's hands, and the man gasped and stumbled backward.

"You. . ." he said, and then fell to his knees. A red line appeared on his chest going from above his right leg to his left shoulder. It quickly thickened and crimson liquid leaked from it.

"You. . . destroyed my. . . life's work be. . . because we killed. . ." He took ragged breaths and stared at Percy with widened eyes that were somehow still full of anger. "But you'll. . . kill for _them_?"

Percy charged forward and drove his sword straight through Luke's chest. Gasps filled the room.

"T. . . trai. . .tor," Luke struggled out with his final breaths.

Percy pulled his sword free and retreated several steps as Luke fell limp with blood beginning to pool around him. Then he dropped the borrowed sword and collapsed to the ground.

Suddenly Jason's face appeared over him. He quickly began undoing the straps on Percy's armor and tearing strips of fabric off of his own clothes for makeshift bandages. As he worked, Percy glanced past him and saw Reyna down on one knee and panting heavily, as if it were _her_ that had just been in a fight.

"It's over. . ." Percy muttered quietly, then the blood loss became too much and consciousness slipped away from him.


	26. XXV

He was alone in a dark room. He felt cold and confused. He couldn't feel his left arm and didn't even know if it was still there. An incomprehensible whispering attacked his ears that slowly grew louder. This continued until he could make out the words.

_You ruined everything, you ruined everything, you ruined everything. . ._

It repeated over and over, getting progressively louder until it wasn't a whisper anymore.

"You ruined everything!" a voice shouted from all around him. "You ruined everything!"

And then all at once, the voice ceased and light appeared in the room. He was back in the Curia Hostilia, but there was no one there.

"We could have avenged Daedalus together!" the same voice shouted, but this time from behind him.

Percy turned around to see Luke charge at him with _his_ sword in his hands. The tip of the blade was aimed straight at his heart, and he couldn't react in time to stop it.

"_No."_

A female voice suddenly echoed loudly across the room. Luke vanished as did the Curia Hostilia. The light dimmed until he could just barely see the silhouette of a woman in an empty void.

"Hello, Perseus."

Her voice washed over him like a summer wind and he instantly felt inexplicably warm and content.

"Who are you?" he asked the woman whose face he could not see.

"You will learn one day," she said. "It matters not on this one."

"Is this a dream?"

He knew he hadn't woken up yet, but he felt wholly present. He could feel his heart beating in his chest and his clothes touching his skin. This was way too vivid to be a dream.

"Yes," she answered. "You are dreaming, but I am still real and speaking to you."

"What do you want?"

"A lot of things. At present, I need you to forgive yourself."

"For what?"

The scene changed and he was back in the Curia Hostilia again. The civilians were on the benches and Luke was on his knees, bleeding in front of him. And then, as quickly as it came, it disappeared and he stood before the mysterious woman once more.

"Why would I need to forgive myself for that?" he asked.

She didn't answer.

"I knew what I was doing. I _had_ to do it."

Still, she remained silent.

"I _wanted _to do it!"

"And that's why you feel remorse," she said. "You couldn't live up to what you told your beloved and killed out of hatred."

"I killed Luke because it was necessary."

"It was," she agreed. "Hermes's son was broken from a young age and his mind only deteriorated as the years went on. Should you have let him live, one day he might've found a more efficient way to partake in his cruelties. Although it saved many future lives, you didn't take his simply because you needed to."

Percy didn't reply.

"I need you to understand that even the greatest among us do the right thing for the wrong reasons. You must forgive yourself if you're to fulfill your destiny."

"Is that why you're talking to me through my dreams? Just to say, 'Hey, you're as bad as your worst enemy, but don't beat yourself up about it!'?"

"The fact that you believe in what you just said is proof enough that it's a lie."

He didn't have a rebuttal for that.

"You just ended a war, Perseus, but your journey has yet to reach its conclusion. The longevity of Rome is no longer your burden, but now the fates of both Greek and Roman pantheons rest on your shoulders."

"What are you talking about? What does that mean?"

"You will find out in time and earn your title, Savior of Greece."

The light began to dim even further and she faded.

"Wait! I have more questions!"

"Oh, and you needn't worry about your debt to me, by the way. It'll resolve itself in time."

She disappeared and then he felt himself drifting. His body became less tangible and he lost his ability to speak, and then suddenly his eyes snapped open and he was awake.

Percy sat up quickly and gasped in pain at doing so. His right hand instinctively shot toward his heavily bandaged left shoulder. Just trying to gently touch his armpit made him wince.

"Percy!" a voice said beside him.

His eyes traveled down his injured arm to where another hand lay on top of his. He followed it to the face of Reyna, who currently sat in a chair beside the bed he was laying in. She readjusted herself in her seat and squeezed his hand, a look of utter relief on her face. By the looks of it, she'd been asleep until his gasp had woken her.

"You're awake," she said through a grin.

"That's true," he said, the words sounding stupid the second they came out of his mouth.

He put his other hand on top of hers and returned the smile while taking a moment to look around. He was definitely in Reyna's room and lying in her bed. No daylight came through the window behind her. He noticed her hair was unkempt and she was still wearing her armor.

"How long have you been sitting there?" he asked.

"Not long." She didn't meet his eyes. "Just a little while."

He gave her a knowing look.

She grabbed a goblet on the bedside table and handed it to him. Dodging the subject at hand, she asked, "How are you feeling?"

Percy raised the cup to his lips and took a sip. He discovered it was water, so he downed the rest quickly and handed it back to her, his thirst quenched. "Honestly? Pretty terrible."

She nodded sympathetically. "That's understandable. The celestial bronze cut you deep."

Celestial bronze is a magical metal that is very deadly to anything with immortal blood. That meant it was good for fighting monsters, but unfortunately also meant that it's equally weak to demigods.

"It looked bad, Percy. I was scared," she admitted.

"Hey," he said in a forced upbeat tone, "It'll take a lot more than a deranged maniac to take me down."

She smiled. "After you collapsed, Jason did his best to stop the bleeding, but the celestial bronze was eating away at you. He carried you all the way to the sea so your powers would kick in and the saltwater could heal you. It probably saved your life."

"I'll have to thank him, but I'm surprised it was him and not you." She looked away sheepishly, which made him regret the comment.

"The one time I spoke with my mother, she told me about an ability she'd gifted me," she explained. "She said I could lend my strength to other people when they really needed it. After you took that hit was the first time I've ever used it. But as I was giving you strength, the celestial bronze was draining it just as fast. It exhausted me to have to fight against it."

"Oh. So _that's_ what that was. Seriously, that saved my life too. I wouldn't have been able to beat him if it weren't for that burst of energy, so thank you."

"You can thank me by getting better, and taking it easy for a while."

"Okay."

She stared at him strangely, as if she'd misheard him.

"Okay?" she repeated.

"Yeah. I'll take it easy for a bit."

"I expected you to fight me on that."

"Of course not," he said, although he knew he would have under different circumstances.

She must have known that too as she raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"I had a dream last night," he relented.

He recounted what he saw in his sleep, leaving out everything having to do with Luke. When he finished, she looked deep in thought.

"So that's who's been aiding you," she said. "A goddess."

"I guess so."

"But. . . you're Greek and all of your gods are supposed to be asleep."

"Either Chiron was wrong, or she's Roman."

"I wonder why a Roman goddess would be patron to a Greek."

"She said _both_ pantheons rest on my shoulders, but I don't know what that means. Only the Greek gods are asleep. With the current state of Rome, the Roman gods should be stronger than ever."

"Hmm." She rested her chin in her palm and looked thoughtful. He couldn't help but appreciate how cute she looked like that, and then felt a pang of sadness.

"You know what this means though," he said solemnly.

She met his eyes.

"I'm going to have to leave again," he told her. "And I won't know for how long."

She nodded dejectedly. "I know."

"That's why I'm fine with 'taking it easy' for the time being. Because it delays me leaving, and I know you can't come with me."

"I suppose we'll have to make the most of what little time we have."

Percy shifted slightly and winced, having accidentally moved his arm. All things considered, he was quite lucky. There were a lot of people for which the same couldn't be said.

"Luke wasn't the only one who died during the trial," said Percy.

"No," Reyna agreed somberly. "He was a centurion from the first cohort; one of Lucius's best men. He, of course, hasn't wasted much time in blaming me for his death. I can't really disagree."

"That's ridiculous."

"His silence should have tipped me off that he was hiding something. The thought never even crossed my mind."

"Reyna, no one's ever even _seen_ anything like that. No one could have guessed it. Two of the craftiest men I knew, Charles and Leo, wouldn't even be able to design a device like that, especially not one that small."

"Charles and Leo. . . they're from the rebellion?"

"Yeah. I don't know what happened to them, though. They weren't at the meeting _or_ the homestead. I hope they deserted Luke beforehand, but I fear he might have just decided to kill them sooner than the rest."

"I'm sure they're still out there." She shifted her gaze. "About Luke. . ."

"Yeah?" he said, worried by her tone.

She sighed. "There are some people unhappy with how you handled the situation."

"What do you mean?"

"A handful of senators are under the opinion that a legionnaire executing a wanted man without due process should be punished."

He couldn't say the news surprised him. If he didn't face any kickback for killing the worst person he'd ever known then that'd make his life too easy, and we couldn't really have that, now could we?

"Were they even there?" he asked.

"I don't know. They've agreed to abstain from voting on whether or not you should be pardoned for your actions until you're well enough to stand before the entire Senate."

"What about you?"

She looked confused. "What about me?"

"Do you think I was in the wrong?"

"What? Of course not. You had no other choice."

He was satisfied with that answer. In the end, the only opinion that mattered to him was hers.

"You know I'm not going to be attending that vote," he said.

She smirked. "I had a feeling. Are you hungry?"

"Very."

"Stay in bed," she ordered. "I'll grab something for you to eat."

She finally removed her hand from his and stood.

"Thank you!" he called after her as she left the room.

* * *

"How are things going with you and Reyna?" Jason asked. The two of them currently walked side-by-side through the streets of Rome in the direction of the Mare Nostrum. Both he and Reyna refused to let him go anywhere on his own until he was better. It was a little annoying, but Percy couldn't exactly fault them for caring.

"Great," Percy answered, his left arm held taut in a sling so he couldn't accidentally move it. "Why?"

"I was just wondering." He paused for a moment. "I was thinking about the first time we met recently."

"You mean when I was your prisoner. Wow, that feels like so long ago. I was a completely different person back then."

"Right. It was something you said to me that stuck with me, about not understanding what it's like to be in love with your best friend."

Percy's heart sank.

"Do you?" he asked.

"Yes," Jason answered. He glanced at Percy and must've seen the worry on his face because he quickly added, "I don't mean Reyna. No, nothing ever happened there and never will."

Percy let out a sigh of relief, and then mentally slapped himself for that ridiculous thought and moment of panic. "Oh, good. So who then?"

"I told you how I lived in Neapoli for a bit, right?"

Percy nodded and grew excited. Jason _never_ talked about his past.

"I met a wealthy man there who allowed me to stay in his villa so long as I worked for him. And he had a daughter, same age as me."

"What was her name?"

"Piper. She. . . she and I grew close over the few years I stayed there and I couldn't help but fall for her. It took me way too long, but I built up the courage to kiss her and she told me she was in love with me too."

Percy remembered his friend's answer as to why he didn't just join the legion in Neapoli. _Bad memories,_ he'd said. Now he understood what that meant.

"What happened?" Percy asked.

"Daughters of wealthy men don't get to choose who they marry," Jason answered bitterly. "She wanted to be with me but also wanted to fulfill the responsibilities she felt she owed her father. So when the day came that she was forced to make her choice, she made it. Then I left."

And then he came to Rome, where his mother and her husband put him in the same situation Piper had been in. Percy wondered if the woman he was being forced to marry had her own Jason out there somewhere that she could never be with.

"That. . . must have been awful. I'm so sorry, man."

Jason nodded sadly. "She's why I never even considered thinking about Reyna that way."

"You still love her."

His silence was confirmation enough.

Percy couldn't even imagine what Jason was going through. When Annabeth left him, he accepted that the two of them were never meant to be together forever. He'd been sad, but was able to get over her. He could only guess what it'd be like if he and Reyna weren't allowed to be together.

"Why'd you share that with me?" Percy asked. "Not that I'm complaining."

"I didn't trust you at first," Jason admitted. "I'm sure you understand. You destroyed a building in Carthage, burying our supplies beneath it in the process. You were seen attempting to steal one of our ships and then came here claiming to want to enlist with us. And Reyna was acting uncharacteristically where you were involved, so I was afraid you were manipulating her."

"Well that last part isn't true, but yeah, I made some mistakes in the past. So when _did_ you start to trust me?"

"I started warming up to you not that long after you joined, but I was still skeptical. It wasn't until the meeting that you earned my full confidence."

"You were suspicious of me that whole time? I never got that impression."

"Less so with each passing day, but yes. But so long as you never did anything, I adhered to Reyna's judgment, and she seemed eager to trust you. Now though, I have no doubts. You're my friend, and I want you to know you can trust me too."

"Well, I do. You have nothing to fear there. "

Jason nodded gratefully.

They continued in silence for just a couple more minutes before reaching the shore. Percy lowered himself to his knees and dipped his hand into the sea. The water traveled up his arm and over his shoulder until it stopped at the other one. The saltwater soaked through his bandages and settled directly on the sliced skin. Instantly, the constant aching ceased and he could feel himself healing.

"I never got around to thanking you." Percy sat and let the water do its work. "For saving me. So, thanks."

"You should be thanking Reyna." Jason took a seat in the sand just out of the water's reach. "I wouldn't have thought to take you to the sea if she hadn't mentioned it heals you. Otherwise, the celestial bronze might have gotten the better of you. It was also her that stitched you up."

"She didn't mention that."

"She'd probably rather I get the credit since I did the heavy lifting — literally. You should lose some weight."

Percy smirked. "If Luke had used more force then I'd be an arm lighter."

Jason chuckled.

A couple of minutes passed and he could already feel the healing start to slow down. His powers could only do so much for him at any given time. Usually, a cut that deep would take a day at most to fully heal, but he'd never been cut by celestial bronze before. The metal hadn't just damaged his skin — it had damaged his soul, too. Fixing that takes a little bit longer.

"How are you doing?" Jason asked. "With all that happened?"

"Honestly? A lot better than I thought."

"That's good."

"I. . . find myself thinking about Daedalus."

Jason took a second to reply. "Why's that?"

"After seeing Marcus killed in the same way he was, it brought back memories. I felt that familiar desire build up again, to know who ordered it. But after Luke. . . I don't want to know anymore."

"You don't want to know who killed your mentor?"

"No. I spent so long wanting to, so I could confront them and ask them why — and buried deep down was the need to kill him; to get revenge. But I don't like the person who thrust that sword back in the Curia Hostilia. He acted with so much hate and malice, and I don't want to be him ever again. I've had my vengeance, and I don't like the taste of it. I'm done pursuing it."

"That's. . . that's incredibly admirable," Jason complimented.

The water dropped down to the sea, having done as much as it could for the time being. The ache in his armpit returned, but fainter. Only a couple more days, he figured, until he'd be well enough to wield a sword again. Percy got to his feet and began walking back toward the castrum.

"Alabaster is still out there," he said. "I can only hope he'll be more sensible than Luke when I find him."

"Our work never does seem to end, does it?" Jason followed along beside him.

"You're not wrong."

* * *

Ironically, Percy had dreaded the day that his arm was fully healed. Being able to properly hold a sword again meant he'd be healthy enough to leave, and he hadn't the slightest clue when he'd get to come back to Rome. He wanted his days spent recovering to last forever, but unfortunately, time was not on his side. The day had come all too soon. His wound was now completely closed and Reyna had removed the stitches, meaning that he'd have to leave in the morning.

The day was half gone and Jason and Percy stood on the training grounds with practice swords in hand. Percy had just beaten Jason in a spar, but way too easily.

"Come on," he said. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" Jason replied innocently.

"Take it easy on me."

"Take it easy on you? Well if you insist."

Percy gave an exasperated look.

"Alright," Jason relented. "I won't let you win this time."

"Thank you." Percy raised his sword and took a stance.

Jason swung first. Percy deflected the blow and decided that his arm not immediately giving out on him was a good sign. Percy thrust his blade forward and Jason sidestepped. Percy smiled. Jason actually _wasn't_ letting him win this time, which was great. Now he'd be allowed to gloat after he beat him.

Their dulled swords clanged off each other as they fought and he felt good for the first time in days. Percy gave it his all and Jason was staying on top of his game. Their blades cut through the air at great speed again and again until the duel finally came to an end.

Percy, whose sword was hovering in front of Jason's throat smiled triumphantly. Jason, however, flicked his eyes downward. When Percy followed his gaze, he found Jason's sword pointed directly at his heart. They drew.

"Rematch." Percy pulled away and held his sword at the ready again, but Jason lowered his.

"Perhaps I could have a go instead?" a voice said behind him.

Percy turned with a start and found Reyna standing behind him without her armor on.

"You're done already?" he asked.

She nodded and walked over to Jason who handed her his sparring sword. Once she turned her back to him, he gave Percy a look that asked a nonverbal question. Percy nodded subtly in confirmation and he walked away, leaving the two of them alone.

She had promised to clear as much of her schedule as possible for today. Being legatus meant she was always busy, so she couldn't just spontaneously take a whole day off. Percy had guessed he'd get maybe most of the afternoon with her, but she was off sooner than expected, which meant he had to stall for a bit of time.

Reyna raised her sword, showing no signs of having noticed the silent exchange.

"Ready?" she asked.

Knowing how she liked to operate, Percy answered her by striking first. His sword cut through the air and clashed with hers. She pressed her sword against his and forced it down and to the side which opened his guard. She brought her blade up in a wide swing that he had to roll away from.

The duel didn't last much longer after that. He got in a couple more parries and a strike that she blocked, but then she disarmed him and leveled the tip of her blade at his face.

To be fair, it wasn't an even matching. Percy's gash was still slowing him down and Reyna's prowess was nothing to laugh about. Even when he'd sparred with her at full health he'd lost almost as many matches as he'd won. Also, her honor dictated that she wouldn't do anything but fight to the best of her abilities, even with the circumstances — no, _especially_ with the circumstances. A challenge to overcome was exactly what he needed to return to full strength, and she knew that.

"Again," he said as he picked up his sword.

She hesitated but agreed. She attacked with equal fervor to the last match. Percy tried his best and managed to fair a tiny bit better, but she ended the fight just as quickly.

"I think that's good for now," she said.

Percy glanced at the sky. "No. Another."

"Is this really how you want to spend your last day here?"

"Just two more, alright? I promise."

He could see it in her expression that she sensed something was off, but he needed to buy time until Jason gave the signal. Despite her obvious suspicion of his behavior, she raised her sword again.

Percy played the last two duels as cautiously as he could so as to draw them out longer. Unfortunately, that still didn't mean much. Reyna beat him twice more and the sky was as silent as ever. But he was a man of his word.

"Okay, I still have some more recovering to do," he admitted.

"Are you certain you don't want to rest a little longer?" she asked.

"You know I can't. Every day I put this off is another day that Gallio could die."

"You're right. I'm just worried."

"I'll be fine. I've bounced back from worse."

"Have you?"

"Yeah, like this one time I was held captive by a couple of Romans and thought I might die as their prisoner."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't hide a smile.

"Come on. I have something planned for us." Percy took her sword from her and ran them both inside the armory. He returned and gestured for her to follow him out of the castrum.

"I had a suspicion." She moved along beside him. "Would you care to enlighten me?"

"No," he replied casually.

"No?"

"You'll see soon."

"Well, now I'm excited."

"Oh, well, it's not _that_ special. I mean, it's no holding hands on the seabed."

She looked at him inquisitively. "I'm. . . _not_ excited then?"

"You can be a little excited. It _is_ romantic. Just — you'll just have to see."

He took the longest route possible to their destination, wondering all the while why he hadn't just set everything up _before_ sparring with Jason. It would have saved a lot of trouble. Eventually, he ran out of feasible ways to delay their arrival and the house came into view — a domus, Jason said it was called.

The house was pretty fancy. It had a couple of statues outside and a fountain in the middle of the courtyard. There were hedges and flowers surrounding the place, but the building itself wasn't the part he cared about.

As luck would have it, they were seconds away from reaching it when a clap of thunder sounded overhead. Instantly, Percy let out a sigh of relief and picked up his pace. Reyna glanced at the almost completely clear sky curiously, but didn't comment.

Beside the domus was an outdoor area surrounded by a wooden fence covered in vines. The two reached the gate of said fence and Percy pushed it open, revealing a very nice garden. Lining the edge of it were several planters filled with different kinds of flowers and vegetables. Luscious green grass covered the ground and another fountain trickled serenely at the back. Stone tiles led from the gate to the very center of the area where a wooden gazebo stood tall. Inside was a table on top of which sat several burning candles, a pair of filled plates, a couple of goblets, and a bottle of wine.

Percy pulled one of the chairs out from the table and gestured for Reyna to sit before taking his seat at the opposite end of the table. He then poured wine into their goblets while she looked around in admiration.

"This is beautiful," she commented. "Whose —?"

"A nobleman owed Jason a favor," Percy answered before she could finish her question. "I think he caught a thief or something. So for tonight, this garden is all ours."

"Jason called in a favor for this?"

"I'll pay him back the next chance I get," he promised. "I paid for the food, though, so don't let it go to waste."

She looked down at her plate which contained seasoned pheasant breast cooked to a nice golden brown, a healthy slice of cheese, some grapes, and half a loaf of bread. Percy's plate was identical.

"You really didn't have to do this," she said.

"I wanted to, but most of the credit goes to Jason. I _wanted_ to buy the food and set all this up myself, but you finished your duties sooner than I expected, so I kind of had to stall."

"That explains why we went up the same street three times."

"Mhm." Percy took a sip of wine. "Now let's just eat our fill, talk, enjoy our last night together for a while, and not think about Alabaster, or the gods, or — well, any of it."

"Sounds perfect."

* * *

As the morning sped him by, Percy kept noticing all of his "lasts". It was his last time waking up with Reyna at his side, his last time enjoying the luxury of a bathhouse, the last time he could eat a large meal. There were so many things about his everyday life in Rome that he was giving up for the foreseeable future, but he didn't have much of a choice. According to that goddess or whoever it was that spoke to him in his dream that night, it was his destiny. He wasn't going to shy away from it, no matter how badly he didn't want to leave Reyna behind. He'll get to see her again once he's done.

Presently Percy took his last stroll through the castrum with Reyna and Jason beside him. He was without his armor and any supplies other than a coin purse of what denarii he had earned since becoming a legionnaire. It was bad enough he was technically deserting, so he didn't want to steal from the legion too.

"Are you sure you don't want to attend the hearing?" Jason asked.

"I'm sure," Percy answered.

"You saved the consuls' lives. Even if the Senate decided to punish you, I'm certain they'd veto it."

"It doesn't matter what they decide. I've wasted too much time already. The Senate isn't scheduled to convene until this afternoon, which is too long to wait."

"Sure, but what about when you come back? You'll be a fugitive."

"Maybe. I can't think about that right now."

"I'm certain things will work out when the time comes." Reyna grabbed his hand and squeezed it, which surprised him as they were out in the open. "I support your decision."

Percy smiled gratefully.

The three of them reached the gate and stopped. Percy let go of Reyna's hand and turned to face the two.

"I guess this is goodbye," he said solemnly.

"For now." Jason extended his hand to him.

Percy shook it only to be pulled into a hug, which he returned after only a second of shock. He gave him two pats on the back before pulling away and turning to face Reyna. If he was surprised before, that was nothing compared to what she did next.

Reyna grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss, right there where anyone could see. It was soft and tender, and it lasted many seconds. It still didn't feel long enough. Eventually, she separated their lips and gently pushed him away.

"Come back alive," she ordered.

"As you command, legatus."

With the farewells taken care of, Percy took one last look at his friends and turned his back to them. He passed through the castrum gate for the last time and made toward the city's exit. He felt sadness creeping into him and immediately replaced it with determination. He'd finish this quest and return to them as quickly as possible. He'd see them again soon enough.


	27. XXVI

Percy's coin purse was empty. After leaving the castrum he pulled on the hood of the shawl he'd bought when stalking Marcus and made his way to the markets to stock up on supplies. He could afford a simple satchel, a new canteen, a few days worth of jerky, and a single apple. He'd most likely have to do some hunting and provisioning on the road in order to keep himself fed.

After supplying as best he could, he then made his way to the city gate. He moved slowly and inconspicuously, blending in with a few other citizens on their way out. He managed to pass through the gate without being noticed, but that was the easy part. Once outside Rome, he didn't take the road leading to Neapoli just yet. Instead, he turned toward the stables.

There were a couple of legionnaires milling about, so he had to be patient for his opportunity. It took some time, but eventually, the horse he had in mind was out of their sight, so he approached it. A white mare stood before him, watching him curiously. It was the horse he'd ridden here from Neapoli with Reyna, hers already having been returned when she sent a messenger to warn Gallio about Alabaster. Percy wasn't sure what Jason did with his. He'd have to ask him when he returned.

"_Treat?"_ it said excitedly as Percy pulled the apple from his satchel.

"Yes," Percy said, but didn't hand it the animal yet. "I need you to do something for me though, okay?"

It tilted its head.

"I'm going to open this gate," Percy told the steed. "And I need you to run as fast as you can down the road and hide from the legionnaires that might chase you, and then find me after you've lost them. Can you do that for me?"

"_I can run. Give treat."_

Percy extended his hand and the horse chewed the apple happily. She didn't have a saddle equipped, which was inconvenient, but he didn't have the time to bother finding one, let alone go through the process of putting it on her. Percy unlocked the gate and threw it open. Immediately, the white mare took off at a sprint away from the city.

"Hey!" a voice shouted. One of the legionnaires started running after it while the smart one hopped on another horse before doing the same.

Percy put distance between himself and the stables and then casually walked down the road as if nothing had happened. The legionnaire that had stupidly gone on foot returned dejectedly. After many minutes, the one on horseback came back looking equally defeated. Percy continued on his way, neither soldier paying him any mind.

Several more minutes passed and the horse appeared from the woods. Percy made toward her instantly and stroked her mane.

"Thank you," he told the mare. "Ready to ride now?"

She nodded and Percy climbed on her back. They continued down the road at a trot.

Several hours of riding later, both he and the horse were exhausted. The sun had almost completely set and the temperature was beginning to drop. He turned her toward the woods and began looking for a good place to camp for the night when he noticed a plume of smoke billowing up from the trees nearby. He cautiously made his way toward it.

Not even a full minute later, an arrow flew from the woods and landed in the ground before him. He told his horse to stop and dismounted. Before he could even draw his sword, the archer showed himself. The centaur slung his bow over his shoulder and approached him with his palms up in surrender.

"Chiron," Percy said, surprised. He'd expected to find him _after_ Neapoli, not before. "How do you always know where to find me?"

"I'd be a bad trainer of heroes if I didn't have my ways of locating them," he answered. "Plus, you always use the same road. Come, you look tired."

Chiron led him into the woods toward a grassy clearing where a campfire had been set up, but it wasn't vacant. With her back to him, a woman with blonde hair sat by the fire with her knees hugged to her chest. Percy stopped in his tracks and stared at her in shock. When she noticed him she shot to her feet and tentatively walked up to him. Then, without warning, she burst into tears and hugged him.

"I'm so sorry," Annabeth sobbed into his shoulder. "Percy, I'm so, so sorry."

It took him several seconds to be able to get his wits about him and hug her back, happy to see she was alive. After his conversation with Luke, he'd been so afraid he'd killed her. He was overjoyed that he hadn't managed to take her too, regardless of the fact that he was no longer in love with her.

Eventually, she stopped crying and he was able to pull away from the embrace. She wiped her eyes and backed away, staring sheepishly at the ground. He'd only seen her cry twice before in the time he'd known her. The first was when they were kids and she'd told him the story about Thalia's death. The second was the night after they learned that Daedalus had been executed and she'd woken up from a related nightmare. She'd never liked appearing that vulnerable, and would rarely even get close to shedding tears even after they got together. She believed she had to be strong and collected constantly or she wasn't herself, even though he'd told her time and time again she was allowed to share her emotions with him. Her inability to open up was probably one of the reasons things hadn't worked out between them.

"Percy," she said, trying to keep her voice level. "I'm so sorry. I should have listened to you. You were right. Luke. . . he — he —" she stammered, looking close to crying again.

"I know," he interrupted so she didn't have to put it into words. "Luke manipulated you and used you, and I regret not doing anything to stop it. I'm just glad he didn't kill you too."

She looked at him with those startlingly grey eyes that he used to be able to find himself getting lost in. "He wanted to kill you. He loathes you, Percy. I don't think he'll stop at anything until —"

"Annabeth," he stopped her. "Luke's dead."

She stared at him with a blank expression. He couldn't even actually tell if she'd heard him.

"He's dead," he repeated. "I killed him."

Still, she stood there, reactionless.

"Annabeth. . ."

She turned and walked away, disappearing into the trees.

"Annabeth!" he called after her. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Chiron staring at him with sad eyes.

"Give her time," he said gently. "It saddens me greatly to hear what you had to do."

Percy didn't comment.

"Annabeth is in a tough place at the moment," said his old trainer. "Those you love are capable of hurting you a thousand times worse than your enemies ever could. Luke has been her hero since she was but a child. It could take a long time for her to recover, but I have no doubt she will."

"Do you have any rope?" Percy asked.

Chiron sighed and then pointed to a box. Percy reached inside and pulled out a length of rope and returned to his horse.

"She left Luke just a little while ago," Chiron explained as Percy fashioned a rein for the mare and tied it to a tree near a ripe patch of grass. "Until then she believed it had been the Romans that committed that heinous act. I found her once she finally learned the truth and we've been traveling together since."

Percy stroked the mare's neck as she munched on the grass. After a few moments, he left her to eat in peace and then sat down by the campfire.

"She also mentioned a certain Roman officer stabbing another in the back, allowing her, Luke, and Alabaster to escape the tent unnoticed. I assume you know who this is?"

He remembered the scene that he'd been met with after he killed Ethan. Marcus was pretending to have been struck in the head while Aulus lay in a pool of his own blood, a dagger buried in his neck.

"Legatus Marcus Lurio II," Percy disclosed. "He's dead too, but not by my hand. I caught him and he was executed publicly for treason after facing trial. Luke didn't get that chance. He killed one of our men without even attempting to plead innocence."

Chiron knelt down by the fire, over which hung a black kettle. He poured some stew into a bowl and handed it to Percy with a wooden spoon. Percy burned his mouth but didn't care.

"If you are up for it," said Chiron. "I would quite like to hear your tale."

Percy blew on another spoonful of stew before swallowing it, and then began recounting recent events.

* * *

He awoke cold and on the ground for what was likely the first of many times in the foreseeable future. He pushed himself to his feet and trudged off away from the campsite so he could relieve his bladder in privacy. Once he was satisfied, he popped open his canteen and took a long swig as he returned to the others.

To the edge of the encampment, far away from where he'd slept, Annabeth sat on a log whilst whittling something out of a piece of wood. By the campfire, which was blazing comfortably, Chiron knelt next to a new figure Percy hadn't noticed at first. He approached the campfire and froze when he saw the newcomer's face.

"J-Jason?" he stammered in complete shock.

Sure enough, the muscular former optio with short-cropped blonde hair looked up at him with a spoon halfway to his mouth. Jason dropped the stew back into the bowl he held and smirked at Percy.

"I'm here," he said pointlessly.

"Yeah, I can see that," Percy responded. "What? How? Why?"

"I don't know," Jason answered. "Not too long after you left, Juno told me to come here, but she didn't tell me why or what I'd find. I'm just as surprised to find you all here."

"If I may," Chiron chimed in. "I've never had contact with the Roman gods before, so I can't say I can predict them as well as the Greeks. But it seems to me there are one or more Roman goddesses who might be invested in making sure Perseus's mission succeeds."

"You're saying Juno sent me here to help save the Greek gods?" Jason asked. "Why would she do that?"

"I can not say for sure. Your guess would likely be better than mine."

Percy sat down and looked at Annabeth, who was focused on her whittling. He could tell she was listening to every word, but didn't want to join in on the conversation. Also, he noticed that every once in a while she'd steal a strange glance at Jason. He didn't know what that was about, but he had more important things to think about.

"So assuming Jason and I _are_ meant to team up on this," he said. "What do we do? Where do we go?"

"I am not certain," Chiron admitted. "In circumstances like these I'd usually suggest consulting the Pythia, but as matters stand her status is not currently known to me. I've never even met the current Oracle. Usually, she'd be high priestess at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, but under Roman control, it's impossible to say whether that'd still be the case."

"So should we search for her then?" Jason asked. "Start looking around in Delphi and go from there?"

"It is one option, but I believe the most likely place to find clues would be on Mount Olympus itself."

"You think we should make the pilgrimage?" Percy said. He'd always dreamed of climbing the mountain one day and standing at the peak, yelling to the gods and demanding to know why they've always ignored him.

"I do, but you won't stop at the peak. Few demigods have made the whole journey, proceeding beyond the mountain and to the city of the gods above."

"Wait," Jason cut in. "I thought Olympus was on the mountain itself?"

"What? No, of course not. Mortals have been making the climb for centuries during times of crisis to seek the gods' aid. The last thing the gods would want is to be constantly visited by mortals. No, the city of Olympus floats in the clouds above it."

"Oh. Well, how are we supposed to get up there then?"

"Unless you have a way to fly up there, you must locate a cave at the top of the mountain. Traveling through it should take you to Olympus."

"Hey!" Percy suddenly had an idea and turned to Jason. "Your dad's lord of the sky, right? Can you fly us up there?"

"No," Jason answered, but looked unsure. "I mean, no? I don't know. I've never tried to fly before."

"Your father is Zeus?" Annabeth suddenly spoke up, her eyes locked on Jason.

"Jupiter," Percy corrected for him, but Annabeth's gaze didn't move.

"Why?" Jason asked.

"You. . ." She returned her eyes to her wood and shook her head. "It's nothing. You just. . . you remind me of someone I used to know."

An awkward silence ensued. Percy studied his friend's face, but Jason seemed equally confused about her comment as he was. Annabeth resumed her whittling, the wood now taking the rough shape of a bird.

"Anyway," Percy changed the subject, "We climb Mount Olympus and find a cave — unless Jason learns how to fly — and then we'll magically come out in the city of Olympus?"

"I've never made the journey myself, but that is the tale past students of mine have told," said Chiron.

"Lu — er. . ." Percy stopped himself and glanced at Annabeth, who showed no reaction to the name he almost said. "Alabaster was sent to Neapoli to assassinate Legatus Gallio, so that should be our first stop."

"Agreed," said Jason.

"And then hopefully we'll be able to take a ship from there to. . . uh. What's the closest port to Mount Olympus?"

"Delphi," Annabeth answered without looking up. "Then you'll walk to Lamia then Larissa, north of which is the mountain."

"Wait, we're going to Delphi anyway?" Jason interjected. "If that's the case, we could stop and visit the Temple of Apollo."

Percy thought for a moment. "That's true. But. . . Annabeth, do you know how long it'll take us to go from Delphi to Mount Olympus by land?"

She took a second to respond. "Maybe a week, probably a little longer."

"And there's no port actually closer to Olympus?"

"Well Lamia is, but to sail there you'd have to go all the way around the Peloponnese and Athens, which would take you out of your way by a week, and then you'd still have to walk another several days to reach Olympus. The other option is to sail through the Corinthian Gulf, but you'd have to stop in Corinth and travel across land to the other coast to reach the sea again — and good luck finding any ships there, since the city was destroyed. If you do manage to find a boat there, then you'd still have to sail a little less than a week around Athens to reach Lamia. Delphi is the fastest option."

"How do you know all this?" Jason asked, amazed.

"She likes to study maps," Percy answered for her. "Probably has at least a dozen memorized."

Annabeth blushed and stared even harder at her wooden bird while continuing to refine it with her dagger.

"Now how fast would it be to sail all the way to Lamia if you have a son of Poseidon speeding up the voyage?" Percy questioned.

She finally looked up at him with uncertain eyes. "I don't know. How fast can you make a ship go?"

Percy grinned. "At least double its maximum if I take frequent breaks. Could probably go even faster if mister thunder here can manipulate the winds."

"I mean, I could try," Jason offered. And then after a second added, "And don't call me mister thunder."

"If that's true," said Annabeth, "then yeah. It'd be faster to sail to Lamia, but that's assuming you can even get a decent boat and convince its captain to take you all the way there."

"We can figure that part out once we get to Neapoli," Jason stated.

"That's a plan then," Percy announced. "We'll ride to Neapoli, confront Alabaster, speak with Gallio, sail to Lamia, and then travel on foot to Mount Olympus — or by horse, if we can manage to get any. And if we find nothing on Olympus, then we search for the Oracle in Delphi."

Percy might have imagined it, but the faintest gust of warm air brushed against his face, as if his nameless patron goddess was approving the course of action.

"It does seem you have things well thought out," Chiron agreed. "If you want to make good ground while the sun is still up, you should depart soon."

The two demigods stood at the same time. Percy approached Chiron and extended his hand, which the centaur promptly shook.

"I hope we find you again once our quest is done," Percy told him.

"As do I." Chiron smiled. "And I pray the worst of your hardships are now behind you."

Percy turned to Jason. "Shall we?"

Jason nodded. They both turned to leave the camp but froze when Annabeth's voice stopped them.

"Wait!" she said, getting to her feet. Her whittling project now clearly looked like an owl. "I want to go with you."

Percy stared at her for a moment. He could see a look of determination on her face, but pain buried within her eyes. She still looked as beautiful as she did when they were together, but he could no longer see the woman he'd once loved and grown up with. Annabeth was damaged by the things Luke put her through, and he wanted nothing more than for her to bounce back and find a way to be happy again, but it could never be with him.

"No," he told her, knowing in his heart that even if he weren't in love with Reyna the answer would still be the same.

A look of hurt appeared in her eyes, which she quickly tried to hide.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I understand why you stuck with him for so long, and I know you're as much a victim of his as those he killed, but I just can't trust you anymore."

"Oh," she said quietly. Chiron gently placed his hand on her shoulder.

Percy felt like he should say more. He wanted to make her understand that he still cared about her and didn't mean to hurt her, but couldn't find the right words. A part of him hoped they could find a way to be friends again, but he knew it likely wasn't possible.

"Let's go," Percy said solemnly to Jason.

He hesitated before nodding and exiting the clearing with him. Percy led him to the horse and untied it from the tree.

"I'm guessing you don't have a horse?" Percy asked.

"No," Jason answered. "Did you steal this one?"

"Technically, yes. But it's one of the ones Gallio lent to us, so I'm returning it since I'm headed to Neapoli anyway."

"Makes sense."

"Speaking of, what happened to yours after you went off to kill a sea monster without me?"

"Well I rode it while tracking Cetus down, and then Juno said she'd return him to Neapoli. I'm assuming she kept her word."

Percy stroked the mare's mane. "Can you carry both of us?"

"_Yes,"_ it answered.

"Cool." He hopped on and grabbed the reins he'd made. "Just let me know if you need a break."

"You've got to be kidding me," said Jason.

"Come on," Percy urged. "There's no time to lose."

Jason grumbled as he hopped on the horse behind him and hesitantly wrapped his arms around Percy's waist. Percy felt just as awkward about that as he did.

"Let's go, girl."

The horse took off at a gallop.

* * *

With the horse stabled at the city's entrance, Percy and Jason walked through the streets with a sizable gap between them. After the ride there, they decided they'd been close together long enough to last a lifetime. As they proceeded, Percy kept his hand on his sheathed sword and constantly shifted his gaze in every direction. Alabaster was here somewhere, and he wasn't about to let him get the jump on him.

They were making their way toward one of the castra to ask about Gallio, but something made Percy stop in his tracks. He spotted a quaint little building constructed primarily out of marble and metal with a thin plume of smoke rising from a tube sticking out of the roof. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before, and he wondered why he hadn't noticed it the last time he was here. Percy changed directions and went straight toward it.

"Where are you going?" Jason asked.

Percy stopped outside the door and contemplated knocking. He didn't know why he felt so compelled to investigate it. It could just be plain curiosity, or perhaps someone wanted him to go inside.

"Whoah," said Jason. "This is different."

"You've seen this building before?" Percy asked him.

"Yeah, but not like this. From what I remember it was just some old man's house, but it used to look a lot more weathered and didn't have these metal plates all over it."

Percy raised his hand and knocked on the door, his hand ready to draw his sword in a moment's notice if necessary. Seconds passed and then it opened to reveal —

Percy gasped. "_Daedalus_?"

The old man at the door was the spitting image of Percy's old mentor. He had long grey hair and a beard complementing a wrinkled face of a pale complexion. He even had similar bronze braces covering his legs, but the similarities stopped there. His eyes were brown instead of grey and his face was missing the scars Daedalus wore. His toga left his shoulders visible, but where Daedalus had a purple partridge etched into his skin, this old man had nothing.

"Sorry," Percy muttered. "I thought you were someone else."

"That's not the first time I've been confused for him," the old man side with a smile. "I think you might know my protégé."

"Who's your —?"

"Archy?" a voice called from within the workshop, a voice that sounded familiar to Percy.

A short man a few years younger than Percy appeared. He had curly black hair, dark brown eyes that matched the old man's, and a scrawny build. His eyes glazed over him and Jason at first but then widened after he did a double-take.

"Percy!" he said with a large grin on his face. "Dude, what are you doing here? It's so great to see you!"

"Leo?" Percy said, in slightly less shock than when he'd thought the old man was Daedalus. "You — I thought you were dead."

The smile fell from his old friend's face. "You thought —? Oh. So the rumors are true then. . ."

"What rumors?"

"About, you know. Half the rebellion going rogue, and —"

"Yeah," Percy stopped him before he could say it. "Yeah, it's true. I was there."

Leo looked absently at the ground for a few seconds. "Come on, let's talk inside. They can come inside, right Archy?"

The old man said, "Of course. I'll be working should you need me."

"Who —?" Percy started to ask after the old man retreated into the building.

"Oh, right!" Leo suddenly exclaimed. "Percy, this is going to blow your mind. Archy is my great-grandnephew."

Percy glanced at the old man who had to be at least three times Leo's age. "Your, uh, your _what_?"

"This is Archimedes III!" he said, so excited he was literally bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Archimedes," said Jason, who'd been watching the exchange in silence up until then. "As in _the_ Archimedes?"

"Yes! Archy here is his grandson. He's a genius. He knows how to make things I could never even dream of. Do you want to see his spheres?"

"W-what?" Jason spluttered. "No, I don't want to be seeing anyone's _spheres_."

"Uh, Leo," Percy interjected, "This is Jason. He's a friend of mine, and he's a son of Jupiter."

"Jupiter?" he repeated, showing no signs of having caught the innuendo. "You mean Zeus?"

"No, I meant Jupiter. We can explain once we're inside. We've been on horseback for days, and I'd really like to sit down."

"Oh, sure. No problem."

He stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. They walked through the door into the building's interior, which was somehow even stranger than the exterior. The first thing unique about the structure was that there were no inner walls. It was all just one giant room. The second unique thing was that there was zero unused space. Everywhere you looked there was something; be it a table, a pile of scrap metal, some unfathomably complex machine, or even a fully functioning automaton. Off walking around was a metal man mimicking human movement with eerie accuracy. Percy couldn't even begin to imagine how something like that could be possible without magic.

Off to the right crammed in the corners were two sleeping areas. There were small beds that looked decently comfortable and bedside tables that were topped with wires and gears and other miscellaneous components. In the center of the room, there was a short table in front of a metal box that contained a blazing fire, the smoke leading up through a tube and up into the ceiling. Leo led them to the table and gestured for them to take seats in the very plush looking chairs that surrounded it.

"Hey, Manny!" Leo called out as he kicked back in his chair. "Let's get some drinks over here."

The automaton pivoted its entire torso to face Leo, bowed, and then walked to a cupboard where it retrieved three goblets and a tall bottle. It then filled the cups and handed one to each of them.

"Uh, thanks," Jason said to Manny the machine. He took a sip of his drink and seemed to enjoy it. "Is this mulsum?"

"It is!" Leo said happily. "Never tried this stuff back home, but once I moved here and tasted it for the first time, oh man! I couldn't get enough of it!"

Percy drank from his goblet and found his taste buds treated by the sweetest wine he'd ever had. "What is this?" he asked after taking another drink.

"Mulsum," Jason answered unhelpfully.

"Red wine with two parts water and added honey," Leo told him. "Archy made a machine that can brew it autonomously."

Percy decided he liked mulsum.

"So, Leo," he said, getting to the business at hand. "What are you doing in Neapoli? What is all this?"

"Oh, well there's not a whole lot to it, really. After you left was when things started to get serious. Arguments started breaking out with increasing frequency and fights were becoming too common. I didn't like where things were headed, so I left in the middle of the night not long after we sailed across the sea. I found my way to the nearest city, here, and ran into Archy. After I told him my dad was Hephaestus, he agreed to take me on as his apprentice and teach me everything he knows!"

Leo had been the second-best craftsman and blacksmith in the rebellion behind Charles. That alone made it a safe assumption that they were both children of the forge god. Sometimes people would make the argument that Daedalus was more naturally skilled than either of them while being a son of Athena. Whenever that happened, Leo whipped out his fire powers, a very rare ability only ever seen in children of Hephaestus.

"So you don't know what happened with the rebellion after that?" Percy asked.

"Only rumors, like I said. But the stories were varied and vague, so I don't really know what to believe."

Percy gave him a watered-down version of events. He explained the meeting, Luke's alliance with Marcus, the events at the homestead and the Curia Hostilia, and why they were in Neapoli. He didn't go into too much detail, as some things were still too fresh for him to put into words.

"Wait, no," Leo muttered. "That can't be right."

"What can't be?" Jason asked.

"Alabaster left the rebellion shortly before the meeting," he replied.

"What?" said Percy. "No, Alabaster is one of Luke's most devout followers. He's a killer, just like the rest of them."  
Leo's eyes widened.

Then suddenly, Percy was hit with a splitting headache. He fell forward and landed on his hands and knees. Visions swept across his eyes: his mom being killed in a street brawl, Daedalus being beheaded in the middle of Rome, an entire coastal city on fire and in ruins. Then just as quickly as it came on, it stopped. Percy shot to his feet and turned to see Alabaster himself slumped against a wall with a charred black spot on his breastplate, but he was still breathing and conscious. His spellbook was sprawled open on the floor out of his reach. Percy drew his sword and rushed over to him, leveling it at the son of Hecate's throat.

"What did you do to me?" he demanded.

"I just showed you a reminder," Alabaster spat. "Of everything the people you betrayed us for have done to us and you."

"Alabaster, it's over. Luke's dead, same with the rest of you."

"Yeah, I heard your lies."

"I know you've got some spell of sort to tell if I'm lying. You know I'm not."

"It's not possible! Luke would never abandon us. He told me he'd send a message when it's time to kill the legatus and he will."

"Open your eyes! It's over. Luke only ever cared about himself and didn't think twice about letting you rot here, waiting until you die for a pigeon that would never come. He abandoned everyone who trusted him and he abandoned you. Do you want to accept that or do you want to die the same way he did?"

"No. He'd never —"

"Yes he would," Leo suddenly chimed in. "Luke was here at the same time you were. Did you know that?"

"Another lie."

Leo walked over to a table and picked up a small box. He opened it and withdrew a round object small enough to fit in one's mouth.

"You said Luke used a smoke bomb to escape his trial?" He handed the orb to Percy. "I thought I lost one of these, but now I'm sure he stole it from us."

"You see?" Percy held up the orb triumphantly so Alabaster could see it. "Luke came through here, completely ignored you, and continued to Rome to fulfill his own selfish agenda — to kill me."

Alabaster looked even angrier than before, as well as hurt. For some reason, Percy was certain the feelings weren't directed at him.

"Luke didn't care about you or what you wanted. You put your faith in the wrong person for the wrong reasons, but right here right now you have a chance to —"

"SHUT UP!" Alabaster shouted. On the floor, his spellbook suddenly began glowing which caught everyone's attention. Moments later it vanished, and when they looked back toward Alabaster, he was gone.

"Where'd he go?" Jason asked, rapidly move his gaze around the room.

"He's gone," Percy said, surprisingly calmly.

"Come on! We have to find him."

"No, I mean he's _gone_. For good."

"What?"

"He gave up. I don't know where he's going or what he'll do, but I don't think he'll be our problem ever again."

He felt it deep inside him, an unnatural warmth that assured him his words were true. Maybe Alabaster would turn over a new leaf, maybe not. He wasn't sure what would happen to him now, but he was certain he'd never see him again.

"How can you know that?" Leo asked.

"I don't know. I just do. It's probably my patron goddess telling it to me."

No one questioned that.

"So we're not even going to go after him?" said Jason.

"We wouldn't find him if we tried," Percy replied.

"Well!"

The voice drew everyone's eyes to the far end of the room where Archy stood with his hands on his hips.

"I have a mess to clean up now," he said. "So if you want to continue your conversation, you'll have to do it outside."

Percy noticed that in whatever struggle occurred while Alabaster was toying with his mind (Jason had struck him with lightning, if he were to guess) a table had been knocked over and many items were scattered across the floor. Manny the automaton was also unmoving and separated from his head.

"You heard the super genius," said Leo. He stepped over the junk and walked toward the exit before opening the door and motioning for them to go through.

Percy went to follow him but stopped when something caught his eye. On the ground by his feet lay just an ordinary black cube. It didn't stand out in any way and looked completely insignificant, but something compelled him to pick it up.

"What is this?" he asked Leo.

"Oh, that?" Leo took it from him and flipped open one of the sides, showing that it was a box. "It's nothing special. I tried modifying one of Archy's designs to make a box that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It didn't work out too well. It can hold any item inside of it, no matter how big, but only the one. So, not that useful."

"Can I have it?"

Leo blinked. "Uh, sure. I don't know what you could really use it for, though."

"Me neither." Percy pocketed it. The wind briefly blew through the door and warmly grazed his skin.

The three demigods left the workshop and started down one of Neapoli's roads. Jason led the way, as he knew both where they were going and how to get there.

"So, what happened back there?" Jason asked Leo.

Leo scratched his neck and sheepishly averted his gaze. "A little while ago Alabaster found me here and told me he'd left the rebellion for the same reasons I did. I didn't have any reason to mistrust him, so I didn't. I'd been wanting to upgrade the workshop for a while and outfit it was some cool new designs, but Archy insisted that he wanted to keep it lowkey after everything his grandfather went through. He wants his identity and knowledge kept a secret, so turned down all my ideas as they'd draw too much attention.

"That is until Alabaster showed up and said he could do some fancy hocus pocus to make it so the workshop would only ever look like an old ruined building to mortal eyes. He proved to us it worked and did his thing then poof! I could do whatever I want to the workshop and mortals would never know, so Archy let me start upgrading. Now though, I guess it was just meant to be a trap for you."

"Hey, man," said Percy. "I don't blame you. I used to trust him too, before I learned what he and the rest were capable of."

They walked for a while longer, Percy and Leo talking all the while. They discussed the gods and their destination of Mount Olympus. Leo asked a lot of questions, but that wasn't out of the ordinary. Finally, they reached a castrum where they'd be able to find someone who could point them in the direction of the legatus.

"Well," said Leo. "Good luck. It was seriously so awesome seeing you again. Stop by the workshop right before you leave. Maybe we have something that could help you out on your quest."

"Yeah, you too," said Percy. He couldn't be happier that Leo and Annabeth were both still alive, but it saddened him that it was just them, Alabaster, and himself left out of all the demigods in the rebellion.

"It was nice meeting you, Sparky," Leo said to Jason.

The son of Jupiter looked like he'd been slapped in the face. "_Don't_ call me that," he said dangerously.

Leo turned up his palms. "Okay, sorry. Geez."

Jason closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sorry, it's — just never call me that. It was nice meeting you too."

Percy studied his face but couldn't read his expression.

"See you later," Leo said with a wave and then walked away.

"What was —?" Percy started to ask.

"You go on ahead," Jason interrupted.

"What?"

"You don't need me to talk to Gallio. I. . . I've got something I have to do."

Percy wanted to question further, but the look on his friend's face made him hold his tongue. He decided if Jason wanted to share, he'd do so in his own time.

"Alright." Percy nodded. "I'll meet up with you later."

Jason took off to go do something mysterious and Percy proceeded into the castrum, where he'd hopefully find soldiers who didn't yet know he was a deserter.


	28. XXVII

Jason picked up the wooden sword and walked to the center of the cave. He gripped it in both hands and held it at the perfect angle. He shifted his feet to be the right distance apart and bent his knees ever so slightly.

"Good, child," said Lupa. The wolf goddess circled him like she would her prey. She was a towering wolf, standing taller than any man. She had deep red fur with just a tinge of brown to it and eyes of silver. More than just her size, she had this aura about her that gave off a look of power. Even without a human voice coming from her mouth, merely being in her presence was enough to know she wasn't truly an animal.

"Now strike," Lupa ordered.

On cue, Jason moved his back foot forward, at the same time bringing his wooden sword down in a wide arc. It cut through the air swiftly.

"Next."

He thrust the sword forward with all his might. It flew perfectly parallel to the ground and made a _whooshing_ sound as it stabbed nothing.

"Next."

Lupa proceeded to make him do every form of attack he knew. He did overhead swings, jumping strikes, leg sweeps, and more. Some he performed more skillfully than others, but he didn't forget any.

"You still require more practice," Lupa commented.

"I'm sorry, my lady," Jason mumbled.

"Don't apologize. Work harder and be better."

Jason nodded, and then suddenly his instincts kicked in. He rolled forward and quickly turned around. Standing right behind where he had been was a ghost of a woman wielding a sword that would have struck him had he not reacted quickly enough.

The ghost was as tall as an average adult male but had the bulk of a gladiator. She had no face and her body had no texture. She was just a grey apparition in the shape of a tall woman that you could see through; Jason had to defeat her. The young demigod raised his sword and took a stance, and the ghost charged.

Looking at the matchup you'd assume it wasn't a fair fight. Jason was a boy who'd barely lived eight summers wielding a wooden sword and the apparition looked like a battle-hardened warrior with a ghostly, yet sharp looking sword in hand. However, Jason had been training and learning from a literal goddess since he could barely walk, and also had godly blood running through his veins.

Jason raised his wooden weapon to block the blow and the ghost's sword connected as if it were solid. She withdrew her sword and struck again; Jason parried. Lupa had taught him how to use his size to his advantage. He was small enough to be able to duck under certain swings and could get inside her guard in ways that were impossible for fully grown adults. Unfortunately, though, this apparition seemed to be far more skilled than the ones Lupa usually sent after him.

Jason got inside her guard and was about to make the winning strike when she unexpectedly kicked him. He stumbled back and just barely managed to bring his sword up in time to block her next swing, but he lost his grip. His wooden blade went flying from his hands and the ghostly woman brought her sword down on him.

Then something strange happened. Right before her sword came into contact with his head, everything slowed down. The blade crept toward him at a crawl and he could hardly move. He thought maybe he was being punished for losing by having his defeat drawn out for as long as possible, but then he felt a surge of energy run through him. He could feel the air rapidly compress around him and a tingling sensation on his skin. He had a metallic taste in his mouth that he kind of liked for some inexplicable reason. Then a bright light erupted from him with a deafening bang, and the apparition was gone. Jason suddenly felt tired.

Lupa trotted up to him with a curious expression on her face.

"What was that?" Jason asked her.

She lifted a paw and pointed at the ground. Etched into the cave's stone floor in front of him was a glowing orange bird.

"What is it?" Jason took a couple of steps back from it.

"It is an eagle," Lupa answered. "The symbol of Jupiter. Your father has claimed you."

"My father? _Jupiter_ is my father?"

"Yes, child," Lupa said patiently. "You have the lord of the sky's power within you, and you just harnessed it."

Jason said nothing. His father had claimed him. For his whole life, he'd only ever had Lupa. His mother had apparently abandoned him and his father was a mysterious absent god who'd never acknowledged him until now. He didn't know how to feel.

"Show me what you did one more time," Lupa ordered.

Jason nodded. He backed up and faced a wall, then concentrated. Several seconds passed but nothing happened. He didn't even know _what_ he had done in the first place, let alone how to repeat it.

"It will take time to master your abilities," said Lupa. "But even when you do, you mustn't rely on them. They will wear you down and weaken you. They are a tool you can use, but limited. Your sword and your mind will always be your greatest weapons."

"Yes, my lady."

"Get some rest, young cub. You've earned it."

"Thank you, my lady."

Jason bowed to Lupa and then strode through the big open cave that Lupa called home. Off to the side, there was a small opening that led to a cozy nook he had all to himself. He crawled inside and lay on top of a bed made from straw and a tanned boar's hide. Jason laid down on top of it and found himself quite comfortable and even warm, despite being in a cave. He quickly began to fall asleep.

Dreams found him soon after. They started off normal and nonsensical, but then they got strange. He saw his fight with the specter, and a bolt of lightning shooting out of his chest. A gorgeous woman wearing a lot of jewelry and a form-fitting dress extended her hand to him, her other one holding a golden staff with the head of a lotus flower. Then he saw a different woman with curly blonde hair looking at him with familiar blue eyes. To her side stood a girl a few years older than him with choppy black hair and eyes that matched. She had a warm expression on her face and Jason felt like he should know her, but couldn't remember.

The dreams faded and the girl's face rapidly became more vague in his memory until it was gone entirely. He woke up and lost all recollection of what he'd dreamt about the night before.

* * *

Jason panted and gripped his wooden sword tighter. He tried to take just a single second to breathe, but Lupa's specter wasn't letting up. This time it was a hulking man taller than even the wolf goddess herself and wielding a sword in each hand. What was worse, he never seemed to get exhausted. He wasn't sure if he could beat him, but he _had_ to. He'd come too far to lose now.

The specter charged him. Jason stood his ground until the last second. His opponent swung both his swords and Jason slid beneath them before dashing between both his legs. Once in the clear, Jason pivoted and struck his sword at the ghost's back, but it was faster than it let on. The specter rolled out of the way in time and Jason's wooden sword only struck air. Jason retreated several steps as his foe turned to face him.

Jason took a stance and the specter clanged his swords together threateningly. He closed his eyes and prayed to his father. _Just one bolt of lightning_, he silently pleaded. _That's all I need._

The dual wielding ghost sprinted at him. Jason concentrated and tried to channel lightning. Nothing came. He felt ready to accept defeat when a sudden burst of determination spurred him forward. _I am the son of Jupiter. I do not need lightning to win a sword fight._

The gap between them closed and the first sword came at him. Jason parried it and jumped over the other sword as it came for his legs. He landed on his toes and charged forward. The specter swung two more times and he deflected both blows. He held his sword in one hand and lunged forward. The tip of his wooden blade connected with the ethereal man's chest, and he vanished.

Jason stood there for a moment, catching his breath, before he noticed the sound of clapping echoing off the walls of the cave. He turned to see Lupa staring at him proudly, but there was a woman sitting next to her, slowly applauding him. She was very beautiful and wearing elegant, black robes adorned with golden decals to match her jewelry. She wore a cloak made of the skin of some kind of animal and a crown in her hair. She looked familiar to him, but he didn't know why. He'd taken trips to nearby towns and villages in the past and met travelers on the road, but never met anyone who looked so _royal_.

"Who are you?" he asked.

She stopped clapping and frowned. She picked up an item from the ground: a golden scepter with the head of a lotus flower. For some reason he also recognized it, but still couldn't place the memory.

"I am your patron," the woman answered. "I'm the one who guided you here. I'm the one who convinced my husband to finally claim you, a couple of years ago."

"Husband?" It took him a few seconds to register what that meant. "Juno?"

She smiled and nodded. Jason hurriedly dropped to a kneeling position before her.

"Oh, no need for that," said Juno. "Rise, child."

Jason obeyed.

"Juno wished to see your final trial," Lupa said beside her. "As your patron goddess, she wanted to be here when I declared you ready."

"Ready for what? And what does that mean? My patron goddess?"

"It means," said Juno, "that I will be watching over you; guiding you. I want you to be as strong as you can be, so that should the day come that I must call upon you, you'll be ready to face whatever challenges may arise."

"Then why did Lupa raise me instead of you?"

"Because that is her duty. She judges demigods, and if they prove worthy she trains them in the ways of Rome."

"Indeed," Lupa agreed. "And on this day, I declare you have nothing more to learn from me. You are ready to leave this cave and never return. Jason Grace, you are ready to become a hero."

"Not quite," said Juno.

Lupa looked at her inquisitively.

"I noticed your blunder," Juno explained. "You have not mastered your abilities, and I'm told you've yet to face any real danger."

Jason clenched his fists.

"We can fix this. I have a quest for you."

"A quest?"

"Yes. Complete it and it'll prove to me you're ready to be my champion. Meet me outside when you're ready and we will we discuss it."

She then stood and left the cave.

Jason turned toward Lupa. "What did she mean, her 'champion'?"

"I understand what you're thinking, my cub," said the wolf goddess. "Juno will call upon you for a quest now and again, but you needn't fear. You are not her slave. The benefits of having a patron outweigh having to rarely do her bidding."

"What kind of benefits?"

"It depends. She may guide you through tough times, listen to your prayers, answer calls for aid, and even save your life now and again. At least, that's how gods like Mercury, Ceres, and Vesta treat their champions. With Juno, it's hard to tell. She rarely favors demigods, and it's unprecedented she act as a patron to one."

"Why me, then? Shouldn't she hate me, because my dad's Jupiter?"

"I stay away from the other gods' affairs when possible. You should question her yourself."

Jason stared at the wolf for several seconds. "Is this really the last time I'll see you?"

Lupa nodded. "You have no further need for me, my cub. Your journey is yours to take, and yours alone."

One of the things Lupa reminded him of most often was that wolves had to be strong and show no weakness, or else their pack and prey would lose respect for them. Jason often lived by that rule, but at that moment he didn't care. Lupa had been a mother to him, so he hugged her.

Lupa tensed and then relaxed, as if silently saying, _well, if you must._

Jason pulled away and sheepishly said, "Sorry."

Her face took on a smile, at least as close to one as a wolf could do. "I will miss you, Jason Grace. So rarely do the heroes I train get to live long and happy lives. I hope you are one of the exceptions."

Jason just stood there, not really sure how he could just leave after all these years.

"Go, young hero," Lupa ordered. "It is not wise to test the queen's patience."

Jason nodded sadly, then turned and walked toward the cave exit.

* * *

Jason walked along a road in the direction Juno had told him to go. He only had the clothes on his back and a couple of weapons. Sheathed at his waist was a cheap dagger he'd gotten a long time ago and on his back was an imperial gold spear that was gifted to him by Juno right after she gave him his quest. He was fairly certain he was going to die.

He continued through a large open area for a couple of hours until he reached a wooded area. So far Juno's directions proved accurate, but he still had a bit farther to go. He proceeded through the trees and continued forth for a bit, then a scream stopped him in his tracks. He took a second to determine where he thought it'd come from and then ran in that direction.

He went off the road and cut between the trees until he arrived at some kind of camp. The fire was put out and there was a disturbingly large puddle of blood on the ground by a collapsed tent. A woman stood with her back to a tree, frozen with a look of absolute terror on her face. Standing in front of her was a towering figure with a metal club in his hand. He was taller than the specter he'd just fought and equally muscled. His arms were covered with dark tattoos of violent scenes.

As Jason got closer to him, the giant's putrid odor met his nose. He had to fight not to gag. Neither he nor the woman seemed to notice him. Jason drew his spear and held it at the ready. He hadn't practiced as much with one as he had with swords, but he was confident that he could use it well enough. The massive man raised his club, ready to strike the woman dead.

"Hey!" Jason yelled to get his attention.

His voice caused him to lower his club and turn around. His face was horribly disfigured, and he had blood around his mouth. Jason looked to the blood on the ground, to the woman, and then back to the giant's mouth and the memory clicked into place. Lupa had told him of many heroes' adventures, including Odysseus who'd encountered a tribe of giant, tattooed man-eaters called Laistrygonians. Now Jason was about to fight one.

The giant's eyes rested on his spear for a second before looking at Jason's face. He made a sniffing gesture and then grinned, showing off his crooked, yellow teeth.

"Demigod!" the Laistrygonian giant announced. "You will taste gooder than mortal!"

He advanced a couple more steps. Now that his attention was fully on Jason, the woman gained enough sense to run. She took off and didn't look back, disappearing into the woods.

"Stop!" Jason said to the giant, raising his spear threateningly.

The giant laughed. "Your voice so squeaky! You will amuse me 'fore I eat you."

Jason lunged and thrust his spear forward. The giant's eyes widened and he retreated one large step back, but Jason managed to graze his thigh. Crimson blood leaked from the wound. The giant raised his club with one hand and pounded his chest with the other.

"Or you will die pain-ly!" he shouted angrily.w

Jason charged but had to roll out of the way when the club came down toward him. Jason tried to attack, but had to keep dodging as the giant repeatedly swung his club with surprising speed. Evidently, despite his weapon's weight, the giant was strong enough to swing it around as if it were a stick. Unfortunately, that meant that Jason, who was about half the giant's size, was completely unable to land a hit.

Jason continued backing up, out of the giant's reach, until his back collided with a tree. The giant grinned and proceeded forward.

"No more running, little demigod. Now die!" he said, raising his club above his head with both hands.

Jason looked around but he had no options. The giant brought the club down and Jason raised his spear desperately. He waited for the giant's strength to overpower his block, but it never came. Suddenly, a resounding _bang_ accompanied by a blinding light came from Jason's spear. The giant stumbled back and dropped to one knee, a charred black spot on his chest. Jason didn't waste any more time. He charged forward and drove the tip of the spear straight through his face. The Laistrygonian exploded into golden dust, defeated.

Jason took a few moments to recover from the sudden exhaustion brought on by the lightning strike before looking around. He scanned the woods for a minute, trying to find the woman he'd saved, but figured she was long gone. He walked past the pool of blood, lamenting the fact that he'd been too late to save that person, and continued back to the road.

He was now even more certain he'd die on this quest. If it'd been that difficult to kill the giant, how could he hope to kill a monster that even Hercules couldn't defeat on his own? He's only eleven years old. What was Juno thinking? And now he was tired from using his powers, which would make the upcoming fight even more difficult.

Once he'd returned to the road, it took him another hour to reach his destination. He veered off the road into a very large clearing and continued until he saw a tree that had fallen over. He walked past it for twenty paces and then turned right. He proceeded straight and returned into the woods until he finally reached a small pond. Jason carefully skirted the edge, scanning around for his quarry.

_Snap!_

A twig broke under his foot. In the middle of the pond, something he mistook for a boulder began to rise. Several heads popped out of the water's surface, their long necks all connected to the same lizard body. Jason counted nine scaly dragon heads with glowing red eyes, all staring directly at him. Jason took his spear in hand and prepared to go down fighting.

The hydra was smaller than he'd thought it'd be. He'd pictured a colossal beast, towering to the sky with necks long enough to touch the top of the trees. In reality, it was barely larger than the giant. Perhaps it was a weaker hydra than the one Hercules killed, but Jason was still terrified of it.

One of the heads shot toward him and he dodged to the side. Its mouth clamped down on the ground and Jason didn't hesitate to strike. He drove the spear right between its eyes.

Now, he knew how this monster worked. You cut off one head, two more grow back. It was a simple enough rule. Jason had assumed that stabbing the head without severing it was fair game. As it turned out, he was wrong.

The head he'd stabbed went limp and he withdrew his spear, ready for the next one that came at him. Then the dead head exploded all the way down to the neck, leaving behind a bleeding stump. Seconds later, two more heads erupted from that spot at incredible speed, both looking angry.

"Oh," Jason said in a small voice.

Two of the heads spit acid at him and he ran out of the way from the splash. He rolled away from one head that shot at him and then jumped over the next. He had no idea how he was supposed to kill this thing.

Obviously he knew how Hercules had done it. Each time he cut off a head, his nephew burned the stump with a torch, cauterizing the wound so no new head could grow. Jason was on his own and had no torches. He _did_ have lightning, however — that's assuming he could manage to summon it at will, aim it at the stumps, _and_ repeat that for all ten heads. Jason was definitely about to be killed by this thing, but he wasn't going down without giving it his all.

Jason ran out of the way of more acid and dodged away from another head that lunged at him. Then he pivoted and stabbed it through the neck. Just like the last one, the head exploded. Jason backed out of the monster's reach and pointed his spear at the bleeding stump. Then he prayed as quickly as he could.

He felt the air tighten around his skin. The metallic taste returned to his mouth and a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, bounced off his spear, and struck the hydra right on the stump. The monster stumbled back, but only looked more furious and determined to eat him. On the bright side, the head didn't regrow.

Jason cut off two more heads and called down two more lightning strikes. Things took a wrong turn after he cut off the fourth head. He did things just the same. He stabbed it, the head exploded, and backed out of the monster's reach long enough to aim the tip of his spear. He waited, but no lightning came down that time. Three was all he had in him.

The hydra regrew two heads and advanced toward him. It let out a deafening roar from all eight mouths at once. Jason retreated nervously. Two heads shot at him at once and he only barely escaped being bitten.

He'd always wondered _why_ Hercules had bothered cutting off all the heads. The human heart is located in the chest. Surely a hydra's heart would be too, right? Maybe if he could deal enough damage to the body, it wouldn't matter how many heads the hydra had left.

Jason dodged between the heads and did the stupid thing of getting closer to the beast. He took a guess at where its heart was and drove his spear into its body. The hydra let out a roar and kicked him with its front leg, sending him flying back without his weapon. The spear was still stuck in its body, but it didn't look dead yet. One of its heads shot down toward the spear and bit it. The spear split in half, and then a ball of white light rapidly expanded from it accompanied by a bang louder than a lightning strike.

Once the light faded and Jason could see again, he noticed that everything within ten paces of the spear was gone. The entire pond had evaporated, the hydra was obliterated, and a large crater extended almost all the way to where Jason had landed. Somehow, he'd won.

_Clap, clap, clap, clap._

Suddenly, Juno was in front of him, standing precariously at the edge of the crater and looking at him with proud eyes. "Well done, my champion."

Jason didn't respond for a second, too much in shock over how much had happened in the last several seconds. As soon as he was able to collect his thoughts, he asked, "What just happened?"

"Imperial gold is a volatile substance," she answered. "When it breaks, the results aren't pretty, but you used that in your favor."

"But I didn't know that would happen."

"It doesn't matter. I wasn't testing you on your ability to kill the beast or your creativity. My only reservation with you was that you hadn't gained control of your powers. The hydra helped you get there."

Jason stared at her and then looked at his hands. The metallic taste was still fresh on his tongue. He _had_ managed to control his lightning, even if he could only do it three times in a row. He should feel proud, but he didn't feel like he'd earned the kill. He shouldn't be complaining, though; he was still alive.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Now you find your own path; go where you like," said Juno. "Do what you want. I will be watching over you. One day I will have need of your services, but it is a long way off."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. Anywhere he wanted? He hadn't the slightest clue where he wanted to go or what he wanted to do. His whole life he'd been trained to be a warrior. Now he was declared combat-ready, but there was nothing to fight?

"You will find help on the road," Juno told him. "Good luck, Jason Grace."

Then she disappeared before he could protest.

* * *

So the help Juno promised turned out to be a traveler with a cart. The traveler saw him walking alone and offered him a ride. Jason didn't even ask where to before accepting. Then, a few days later, he arrived in a city called Neapoli. After having spent a couple of days there, he decided he'd liked his life better in the wilderness.

He'd killed a Laistrygonian giant and a hydra in one day, yet found himself begging on the streets. He'd never felt more humiliated. He'd wanted to work for coin, but no one was paying a boy eleven years of age to work for them instead of an adult.

After a couple of hours of pleading for money, he'd acquired a mere two denarii. So no — he wasn't going to fall in a spectacular battle against a ferocious monster. It turns out he'd starve to death. Jason really didn't want to go down in history as the only son of Jupiter to die of starvation.

As Jason was sitting against a wall, stewing in his own misery, something fell into his lap. He picked up denarius number three and tried to see who'd thrown it at him, but whoever it was hadn't lingered long enough to receive his gratitude. At least that saved him having to give one shameful "thank you".

For a short while, he contemplated between waiting for more handouts or finding a market to buy a loaf of bread. Before he could make his decision, a girl appeared before him.

She seemed to be right around his age and looked like royalty. Her long brown hair was braided and resting on her shoulder. She had a very pretty face and tan skin covered by a sleeveless white dress. The most interesting thing about her, though, were her eyes. It seemed as if every second he looked at them they were a different color. He found himself mesmerized by them.

"Um, hello," she said.

Jason stared at her for longer than was appropriate. "Hi," he said in a small voice.

"Why are you just sitting there?"

He tried to think of an answer that didn't make him look pathetic, but couldn't. Even if he had, he wouldn't have said it. There was something about her gaze that made him think it'd be a travesty to lie to her.

"I have nowhere else to go," he answered.

Her brow furrowed. "What about your parents?"

Jason stared at the ground. "I have no one," he admitted.

Suddenly she sat down next to him, right there on the filthy ground.

Jason looked at her in surprise. "What about your dress?"

"I don't care." She extended her hand to him. "I'm Piper."

He shook her hand. "Jason."

* * *

The next day, Jason sat in the same spot. He'd obtained a couple more denarii but didn't really care about that as much anymore. He found himself just hoping Piper would show up again. Yesterday they'd talked for at least an hour before she said she needed to get home lest her parents get worried. In that one conversation, he was pretty sure he'd said more words to her than he'd ever said to Lupa.

He found it difficult to put into words why she had such a good first impression on him. Perhaps it was just because he'd never had a real conversation with _anyone_ before. Sure, he'd spoken with other people in the past and had many conversations with Lupa, but she wasn't exactly the "How was your day?" or "Crazy weather, right?" type of wolf goddess. She only talked when she had something important to say. But with Piper, it was the first time he'd been able to talk just for the sake of talking — for the sake of connecting to another person and making the time that passed in each other's presence enjoyable. It was different, and he liked it.

There could be more to it, though. He quite liked Piper. She had this aura of confidence about her that meshed well with her lowkey attitude. She was very pretty, but didn't like to draw attention to it. Despite having the appearance of an actual princess, she behaved like she came from nothing. If it weren't for the fancy clothes and hairdo, she could convince him that they came from similar backgrounds. Of course, he doubted she was a demigod since she'd mentioned both a mother and a father, but she had the strength to be a fighter.

"What's your name, son?" a voice shook him from his thoughts.

Jason looked up to see a man standing before him. He had a chiseled face, dark eyes, and a scruffy black beard that matched his hair. He was decently muscled, but didn't look like a swordsman. His complexion was identical to Piper's.

"Jason," he answered.

"Have you got a place to sleep?"

On his first night in the city, he'd found a sheltered alleyway where he'd slumbered uncomfortably. "Not really."

"Come with me."

Jason didn't move. "Go with you where? Who are you?"

"My name is Tristan McLean. You spoke with my daughter yesterday. I'd like to show you my villa."

"Piper?"

He nodded.

Jason got to his feet and followed him. He was wary, but not enough to pass up another chance to talk to Piper. He was worried that the man was about to take pity on him. He didn't really want to go from being a goddess's champion to some rich guy's charity case. There was still a chance that he had different intentions, though.

Regardless, he went with him. They traversed the streets of Neapoli at a leisurely pace. Tristan McLean lead him to the very edge of the city where a fairly large parcel of land sat right up against the city wall and not too far away from the sea. The land was mostly taken up by a field and a fenced-in pasture which a handful of animals grazed through. Up in the forefront, though, was a big square house with a courtyard in the center of it. As they got closer, Jason noticed Piper herself sitting in a chair by the entrance looking bored.

"Dad!" she exclaimed once she noticed them.

The two reached the house and Piper hugged her father.

"Hey there, Pipes." He chuckled and ruffled her hair, which was strange to Jason. It'd probably taken quite a bit of time to get it looking so neat and tidy, but she didn't seem to mind.

Piper turned to him with a smile. "Hi, Jason! So?"

He gave her a blank look. "So . . . what?"

"Ah, I haven't asked yet, Pipes," said Tristan. He turned his attention to Jason. "Are you capable?"

"Capable of what?"

"Labor. I have need of a worker to help out around my estate. Aid in farming, cleaning the house, things like that. If you're interested, I can pay you in room and board. Depending on your efficiency, I can even add in coin as well."

"Isn't that great?" Piper asked excitedly. "You could live here with us. We could be friends."

"Friends," Jason repeated, the word foreign to his lips. He'd never had a friend before, nor considered obtaining one a necessity. But now the idea seemed really appealing to him. Why would he say no? It's not like her father was handing him charity — he was hiring him.

He took one more look into her unique eyes and said, "Okay."

* * *

Jason stood outside the villa with a wooden sword in hand that he'd carved himself. He practiced his strikes one after the other, having already done all his work for the day. After executing a spin move, he noticed Piper watching him from a short distance away. He lowered his sword and she came up to him.

"Why do you do that?" she asked.

"Do what?" he responded.

"What you were just doing, with swinging that stick around."

"It's not a stick, it's a sword. A practice one, at least, and I'm training."

"Training for what?"

"To fight."

"Fight what?"

He paused. "I, uh. . . don't really know. But whatever it is, I'll be ready for it."

"Then I'll be ready too."

He looked at her confusedly. "What?"

"Teach me how to fight. I want to learn."

He admired the fierce look in her eyes for just a couple of seconds before handing her his wooden sword. He jogged off to the corner of the animal pasture where he'd collected a few branches that could be carved into swords should his break. He picked up one that seemed fairly balanced already and returned to Piper.

"So, what do I do?" she asked.

"First, you take a stance."

"What does that mean?"

Jason moved his feet into position and slightly bent his knees. He straightened his back and held his branch out in front of him at the ready. Then she laughed at him.

"What are you laughing at?" He furrowed his brow and broke his stance.

"Sorry, you just looked so silly," she said, still smiling. "Standing all serious-like with a stick in your hand."

"I thought you wanted to learn?"

"No, no, I do. I'm sorry. I won't laugh this time."

Jason showed her again and then had her try and copy it. Once she did, he helped her adjust so she was doing it right.

"Why do we have to do this?" she inquired.

"It's how you fight," he answered. "A solid stance keeps you grounded and makes it harder for your opponent to knock you off your feet. Knowing the proper form is the first thing you need to know about sword fighting. Without it, you'll be too vulnerable for any fancy sword tricks to really matter. Try to block one blow, and you'll be off-balance and probably stumble from the force of the attack."

"Okay. So now what?"

Jason stood opposite her and took his stance again. "Now we fight. Take a swing at me."

She hesitated for a couple of seconds before swinging the wooden sword at him. He blocked it with his branch and immediately countered by bringing the tip of it up toward her face. She went cross-eyed staring at it before he lowered it to the ground.

"With enough practice, you can know how to react to that," he told her.

She frowned, and then struck again. He sidestepped and swung at her side, stopping right before it made contact with her.

"You're so fast," she said. "I don't think I could ever move like that."

"It takes practice. A lot of it if you want to be good. Now I'm going to swing at you. Try and block it."

He brought his branch through the air slowly and Piper met it with her sword. She then tried to mimic what he'd done to her and go straight into her own attack, but he parried it and aimed a jab at her stomach, once again stopping before actually hitting her.

"I don't know how you do that," she complained.

"Patience."

"I've never been really good at that."

He smiled. "Well, either you learn it or you don't learn this."

"I can do it," she said determinedly.

"Alright. Let me show you some strikes."

He proceeded to teach her the basics of swordplay for half an hour. She showed promise, for sure, but couldn't be called a prodigy. There'd been some blunders and they'd shared a few laughs. Jason would've been happy going all night, he was having so much fun with her, but then the pigeons came.

"Woah," Piper suddenly said. Her gaze was aimed behind him and into the sky. "I've never seen so many birds before."

Jason turned around and spotted what she was referring to. Flying over the walls in their direction was a large flock of pigeons. They continued getting closer and just when Jason thought they'd pass by overhead, they suddenly dove at him. He smacked the first with his branch but it didn't seem hurt. A couple more came for him and he did a backward somersault to avoid them. He prepared for the next ones, but then he saw Piper. A couple of birds were aimed straight at her, and his instincts took control. His ears popped and his tongue was met with that familiar metallic taste. A bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck the pigeon closest to Piper, then arced off of it to the next one and then the next one. For a brief moment, the air was filled with a web of lightning as it branched off to strike every single bird. Then the lightning disappeared leaving his ears ringing. Every bird was completely gone, except for a few shiny beaks that fell to the ground.

Jason dropped to a knee and panted heavily, his skin covered in sweat. That was the most he'd ever asked of his powers before, and he'd never felt so drained. It left him extremely tired, so much so that he'd be willing to just fall asleep on the ground right there. But he needed to know that Piper was okay.

For just two beats she stood there in complete shock before coming to her senses. "Jason!" she cried out and rushed to his side. Several of her hairs were standing on end, but she looked unharmed. She took his hand and he met her worry-filled eyes.

"You alright?" he asked her.

"_Me?_" she said in disbelief. "I'm fine. What about you? What just happened?"

"I'm a. . . demigod," he said between breaths. "I had to. . . protect you."

"Hey, hey! Keep your eyes open. I won't lose you."

Her words washed over him like a spell and he suddenly felt more alert and like he really shouldn't go to sleep.

"I'll be fine," he assured her. "Honestly. I just need some rest. Took a lot out of me."

"Let's get you back to the villa, Sparky."

"Sparky?"

She grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet. "Come on. Lean on me."

He did as she ordered. She helped keep him upright and took him all the way back to his room. He dropped into his bed and fell asleep instantly.

* * *

After a visit to the bathhouse, Jason returned to his room one night having finished all of his duties. He was contemplating calling an end to the day and going to sleep when he heard a noise outside his window. He barely pushed it open before a face appeared in it.

"Hi," said Piper with a smile on her face. She had her elbow on the sill and rested her chin in her palm. Her other hand held onto a bottle. Around her neck she had a silver necklace with celestial bronze bird beaks hung on it like beads — trophies from the Stymphalian birds he'd killed a few years ago.

The necklace wasn't the only thing that had changed from when he first met her, though. Her hair, instead of being neatly braided, hung loose in a choppy, shoulder-length cut. She'd also taken to wearing more casual looking clothing consisting of sleeveless tunics and trousers, the only fancy thing about them being that they were custom-tailored to fit her perfectly. On top of all that, she'd gone from being pretty to outright beautiful.

Her mother had used to "dress her up like a doll", as Piper had frequently put it. She'd make sure she always looked _perfect_, wore the _right_ clothes, and her hair looked _presentable_. After she passed away a little under a year ago, Piper began making her own decisions regarding her appearance. Jason had never said it aloud to her, but he thought she looked a lot better now than when her mother had deemed her "perfect".

Wait, sorry — Claudia. Piper hated it when Jason called Claudia her mother, as her father had revealed shortly after her death that she actually wasn't. Piper had been born to a woman Tristan refuses to name a year before he married Claudia. It explained why the two looked so different and had always been at odds with each other. He still couldn't get out of the habit of calling her Piper's mother, though.

"What are you doing? Where'd you get that?" He pointed at the bottle in her hand.

"The mulsum? I stole it from the pantry," she said casually. "And I'm here to steal you away, Sparky, because I feel like it's been a while since we last hung out."

"You stole from your father? I don't know, Pipes. I don't want to get in any trouble."

"Oh come on. I live for trouble. And it's not like he's going to find out."

"Fine," he said after a couple of seconds of attempting to fight her gaze. "But why are you outside my window? I have a door, you know."

"We're going outside anyway, so this is faster." She stepped back from the window and waited for him to go through it.

Jason shook his head and sighed, but couldn't help a small smile as he climbed through. "It's so difficult to say no to you."

Her cheeks reddened slightly but he made no note of it.

Once they were outside, she led him around the villa until they reached the back of it. In the early night, the only light source was her necklace, the celestial bronze beaks glowing slightly. She pushed a crate up against the wall and then climbed up it and on top of the roof. Jason followed her, accepting a hand for assistance.

The roof had kind of become their "spot" over the course of their friendship. She usually kept a woolen blanket up there with some stuffed pillows which made sitting or lying there comfortable. Sometimes the two of them would go up there and they'd talk and joke around for a while until they got tired and returned to their rooms. Sometimes she'd point out to him the constellations her father, who'd grown up in Athens, had taught her when she was young. Occasionally they'd even have a laugh inventing new ones, like Jason's personal favorite, "pregnant sword", which was a cluster of stars in the loose shape of a sword with a bulge on one side.

Piper sat down with her legs crossed and Jason sat down next to her, making sure there was a decent amount of space between them. She opened the bottle and took a sip before handing it to him. He took a hesitant drink and found himself pleasantly surprised by the taste. It was perhaps the sweetest liquid he'd ever put in his body before.

"Gods. That's amazing," he commented.

She grinned. "Dad has a business partner who runs a vineyard and brewery. He sends over free mulsum every now and again."

"I still don't feel right, stealing from your father."

"Stop worrying so much. He hardly touches them. This is just one of five bottles we have on hand."

"That's different, then," Jason conceded. He took another sip of mulsum and then passed the bottle back to Piper.

She held it with both her hands and stared at it instead of drinking from it. She had a strange look on her face.

"You alright?" Jason asked.

"Yes, Sparky," she answered shortly. "You don't need to keep asking me that."

"I just worry about you. With, you know. . . your mother —"

"She wasn't my mother," she snapped.

Jason winced.

"Sorry," she said.

"Don't be. I get it. Some wounds stay fresh."

She took a swig from the bottle and placed it on the ground between them. A few seconds passed and Jason decided he needed to change the subject, but couldn't think of a single thing to talk about right then. Half a minute passed in silence before something in the sky caught his attention.

"Hey look!" he said and pointed.

Piper followed his finger to where a single star was moving quickly across the night. Jason looked at her as she watched it, and from that angle, he could see the stars reflected in her uniquely colored eyes. For just a moment, the shooting star passed by her irises. His heart began beating faster in his chest.

Many people believed shooting stars to signs from the gods. They like to interpret their meanings and find some way to apply it to their lives. A shooting star meant they'd have a bountiful harvest, their child's sickness would be cured, or they'd come into wealth. But everyone could see the sky. And if it truly was meant as a sign from the gods, how can you tell whose eyes it was meant for?

Maybe there was someone clear across the world that the gods favored in that moment in time. Maybe the star was meant to signify to them that their life was about to get better. But Jason's father was the king of gods. Whether or not it was meant for him, he chose to believe that it was, and he chose to interpret it as a sign that he needed to finally admit what he'd been hiding for too long.

"Jason," Piper said before he got the chance to speak his mind.

Her eyes moved from the sky to meet his. Right then they were all he could see. Something cold pressed against his leg and he looked down. He realized with a start that Piper had scooted closer to him, the bottle of mulsum now sandwiched between the two.

"I'm tired of waiting for you to do this." Piper suddenly leaned forward and kissed him.

It was incredible, and better than he'd imagined. Her lips were warm and soft against his. He could feel the breath from her nose against his face. He was too happy to think straight. He didn't want it to stop, but she eventually pulled away.

He stared at her, his face probably looking stupid with his mouth agape. For once, Piper didn't look at all confident. Her cheeks were bright and her eyes were pointed down at the roof, but she had a tiny smirk on her lips.

Jason closed his mouth. It took him way too long to collect his thoughts. "You were waiting for _me_ to do that?" he finally said.

"Yes, you dummy," she responded without looking at him.

"Pipes." He took a second to find the right words. "I was literally raised by wolves. I know how to fight and survive, not how to tell if my friend wants me to kiss her."

She met his eyes with a vulnerable look on her face. "Normal people aren't really taught that either," she muttered.

Five seconds passed before he understood what that meant. "Yes."

She gave him a confused look. "Yes?"

"I meant, yes, I wanted to kiss you too."

Her expression softened and a smile played at the corners of her mouth. "You did? Then why didn't you?"

He gave her a flat look that said quite plainly, _really?_

"Right. Raised by wolves. I just always thought the guy was supposed to make the move."

"Since when did you start conforming to societal expectations?"

She laughed. "I don't know. I can't really think clearly when it comes to. . . being in love with my best friend."

Jason literally couldn't keep himself from smiling if he'd tried. It was simply impossible. Here he was thinking a shooting star meant he should finally confess to his only friend that he loved her, and she did it first. He couldn't be happier.

"Piper," he said. "Honestly, I don't know what to say right now other than, I love you too."

"We don't have to say anything." She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him again, but this time he was ready for it.

He kissed her back, not really knowing what he was doing but just following his heart. She straddled him and he rested his hands on her waist. Then she leaned into him and he fell onto his back. His head was met with a pillow and he felt her tongue licking at his lips. He parted them to allow entry and he could taste the mulsum on her breath.

Perhaps he just knew her that well or maybe there was some sort of magic tipping him off, but he knew for a fact what she wanted to happen. He wanted it too. He pulled away from the kiss long enough to ask, "You really want to do this, on the roof at night?"

She smiled mischievously and gently traced a circle around his chest with her finger. "I'm a dangerous girl," she told him.

"I've known that for a while." He rejoined their lips.

* * *

Jason sat on Piper's bed. She was currently lying down with her head in his lap. Her eyes were closed and she had a happy little smile on her face. Her hand lay at her side with her fingers interlaced with his. They'd already done plenty of making out and even more talking. Now the two were just enjoying a comfortable silence in each other's presence.

"It's getting kind of late," Jason eventually forced himself to say.

She opened her eyes and put on a pouty expression. "Why do you always have to ruin the mood, Sparky?"

He gave her an apologetic look. "I've got to sleep, Pipes. I have work to do."

"Then sleep here."

"Piper —"

"No, not this time. You're not arguing against it this time. I just want to sleep in the same bed as the man I love for once."

Jason sighed. "What about your father?"

"Forget him."

"I don't want to risk him finding out. I already feel bad enough sneaking around behind his back like this. If he finds out, it'll be like betraying him after everything he's done for me."

"He's not going to find out. Stop worrying so much."

He resisted her pleading eyes for all of two seconds. "Fine."

She grinned triumphantly.

The two stripped down to their smallclothes and then snuggled up close together under the covers. Jason felt her head on his chest and he closed his eyes. He was still worried that her father would walk in and see them like that, but now he was too content to care. He could take a risk every now and again, right?

He drifted off to sleep. He dreamt he was with Piper on a boat, for some reason. The wind was blowing her hair around and she was laughing at something. She moved in for a kiss, and then a clap of thunder made her back away. A lightning bolt struck the boat between them and it split completely in half, himself on one side and Piper on the other. They got farther and farther apart until he could barely see her.

"Jason," a distant voice said.

He turned around and saw a girl standing on his side of the sinking ship. She was a couple of years younger than him and had choppy black hair, blue eyes, and a caring face. He felt like he should know her, but couldn't think of a name. Another clap of thunder shook the sky. She opened her mouth and Piper's voice came out.

"_Jason!_" her voice hissed urgently.

He opened his eyes and saw a panicked look on his lover's face. With a start, he realized the thunder he'd heard in his dream had been knocks on the door. He threw himself out of bed and gathered up his clothes before diving out her window.

Inside he could hear her stifle a laugh before calling out, "Just a second!"

Jason was glad she couldn't see his cheeks burning red as he walked along the side of the villa before climbing through his own window. Once in his room, he put his clothes on and fell onto his much less comfortable bed. He tried to remember what he'd dreamt about last night. There'd been a boat and some thunder. Piper was there, too, but he couldn't recall any more than that.

Half an hour later he heard a knock on his door. Piper poked her head through when he called out for her to enter. He didn't look at her but could out of the corner of his eye that she was smirking.

"Well at least you didn't panic and jump out the window this time," she teased.

"I knew sleeping in your room was a bad idea," he muttered.

"Hey. I said we wouldn't get caught and we didn't."

He met her eyes and saw a strange look in them. "What did your father want?"

A gloomy expression passed over her face briefly before she forced a smile. "Nothing important."

He knew she was lying. "Piper —"

"It's not important," she said forcefully. "Now I didn't get a kiss before you flew out my window. Can I collect it now or do I have to wait until after you finish your work for the day?"

He decided not to push her further. Whatever her father had said to her, she clearly wasn't comfortable talking about it. She'd tell him when she was ready.

* * *

A few days later she revealed what had been bothering her: Tristan had arranged for her to be married. He didn't fully understand the weight of the news at first. He thought they would fight this, that she could convince her father to call it off, but then she said she didn't want to disappoint him. An argument ensued that ended in uncertainty.

After that another week followed in which Piper pretended the betrothal wasn't a thing. Jason tried to convince himself that things would work themselves out. He tried to go on with being with her like it wouldn't end. Unfortunately, he couldn't run from the truth forever.

One night, Jason was carrying a crate back to the house when he saw a man shaking hands with Tristan at the front door. The man turned and walked away from the house while Tristan retreated into the villa. Jason continued on toward the estate and stopped when he crossed paths with the strange man.

"Ah, you're the farmboy," the man said. He was a few years older than him. He was quite handsome and sported a bit of muscle, but less so than Jason.

"Well, I suppose you're not wrong," he replied.

"You know, my bride-to-be seems to value your services quite highly. Perhaps I could return in a month after the wedding and hire you for my own estate?"

Jason stared at him. "Your bride-to-be?"

"Yes. I'm certain I can make you a better offer than whatever her father is paying you."

An irrational wave of anger swept over him. He could feel his skin tingling and sparks might have even come off of him. Before he did something he'd regret, however, he took a calming breath. He looked the man who'd come to steal away the love of his life in the eye.

"Yeah, maybe," he said.

The man retreated a couple of steps. Jason realized he was unintentionally glaring, but didn't stop.

"Um, right." The man gulped. "I'll see you soon, I guess."

Jason watched him walk away at a quick pace until he couldn't see him anymore. A stone set itself in his heart as he realized what he had to do. If he didn't do it now, he'd probably never find the courage to and regret it forever.

Jason set the crate down where he was supposed to and entered the villa. He strode through the halls and was making his way toward Piper's door when he almost ran into her turning a corner.

"Oh, hey Sparky," she said with a forced smile. "Didn't see you there."

He stared into her eyes and found it made it even more difficult to say what he had to. He looked around and then said, "We need to talk about this."

She frowned. "About what?"

"You know what."

She wore an apprehensive look for several seconds. Jason took that time to memorize every detail of her face. He wanted more than anything for this to not be the last time he was going to see it, but already knew how this conversation was going to end.

Finally, she nodded. She walked to her door and entered with Jason behind her. Once they were in private, Jason turned on her and froze. Why did she have to be so beautiful? Why did she have to stare at him with those mesmerizing eyes like that? The only way he could force himself to speak was by looking away from her.

"I don't want you to marry him," he told her.

"Jason. . ." she said softly. "You know I don't have a choice."

"Yes you do. Don't marry him. Please. Marry me."

She was silent for a moment, but he still didn't turn his eyes her way. He imagined a look of shock on her face, followed by a bit of disbelief. But when she spoke her voice was steady.

"I have a responsibility to my father," she said. "I can't disappoint him."

"You don't have to do this. You can talk him out of it. I want us to stay together."

"We still can!"

He finally turned his gaze on her. She had a desperate look in her eyes. It told him she was just as aware of what was about to happen as he was.

"No. Not while you're married to him."

"Please. This doesn't have to be the end for us. We've snuck around for months and my dad never suspected a thing. There's no reason we can't keep doing it."

"Piper," he said heavily. "I'm not going to live like that. It's me or him."

Tears started welling up in her eyes and Jason's felt wet too. "Jason, please. I love you. Don't make me do this."

"Me or him."

"I can't." She sobbed. "I can't betray my father."

Jason nodded sadly. He turned away from her. He couldn't stand to see her looking so broken. Not only sorrow clawed at his heart but guilt too, because he knew it was his words that made her look like that. He left the room, wiping tears from his eyes as he tried to ignore the sounds of her crying behind him. She'd made her choice, and she hadn't chosen him.


	29. XXVIII

"Wait here." The centurion pointed at a bench up against the wall and then walked off without another word.

Jason sat down at the edge of the castrum where he was told to and looked around. There were a lot of soldiers milling about, all at least a couple of years older than him. The buildings all looked to be in such good condition that he'd have an easy time being convinced they were built yesterday. It all looked so organized, and he could easily understand how the Republic had gained so much power in such a relatively small amount of time.

Strangely though, he didn't feel at home here; he'd thought he would. Here he sat in a military castrum in the middle of Rome, the city he'd been born in as Lupa had informed him, and he was left feeling empty. He was trained to be a soldier, and now he was about to become one. So why wasn't there anything telling him this was where he belonged?

After many minutes of waiting, the centurion that had escorted Jason to the castrum returned with a man at his side. His first impression was that the man looked so. . . _Roman._ Everything about his appearance was just the pure essence of the Republic. It wasn't just the armor, either. His black hair that went down to his neck, despite being unconventional, matched his full beard perfectly and gave him the gruff appearance you'd expect from a military leader. He had a brawny build that was complemented by his armor, giving him a look of power. Most importantly though was his posture and gaze, which would be enough to bring any legion to heel. This man was Roman through and through, there was no doubt about it.

"Jason Grace," he said whilst giving him a scrutinizing look. "My name is Legatus Marcus. I run this legion. Are you aware who ran it before me?"

"Uh, no. No sir," Jason replied.

"Legatus Catreus Grace married a woman of renowned beauty. Her most prominent features were her blonde hair and blue eyes. Do these traits seem familiar to you?"

Jason stared at him in disbelief for as long as he dared. "Are you saying she's my mother?"

"I'm saying I don't think this is a coincidence that you bear a striking resemblance and share her husband's name. Despite no knowledge of Beryl Grace bearing my predecessor any children, here you sit before me."

"I never knew my mother."

"Hmm. Well come with me, boy. We'll get to the bottom of this."

Legatus Marcus turned and walked away without even checking if Jason was following him. The young demigod quickly got to his feet and went after him, his mind racing. He was about to meet his mother. The legatus was leading him to the woman that he'd never known whether she was dead or had just abandoned him. He was going to get the answers he'd been asking for his entire life, and he didn't know whether to be excited or worried.

After a bit of traversing through Rome's streets, they arrived at a decently sized house called a "domus". Marcus marched right on up to the front door and knocked while Jason trailed behind. It was just a house, but it looked so intimidating. His mother and her husband, whose name he bore, were inside of it. This morning he thought the biggest thing that would happen to him was joining the legion. He hadn't prepared himself for this.

The door opened just as Jason reached Marcus. A man at least fifty years old that shared no resemblance at all to Jason appeared in the entryway. He could only be the aforementioned Catreus Grace.

"Ah, Marcus," the man in question said. "This is a surprise."

Marcus nodded respectfully. "Catreus, I believe I found something that may belong to you." He then pointed.

Catreus followed Marcus's finger to Jason, who was watching him cautiously. He could see the man's facial expression change in real time, going from confusion to recognition and then a slow, dawning realization. Catreus stared at him with his mouth hanging open.

"Jason?" he said.

"Yeah," he answered. "It's me."

"Usually we don't allow boys of his age to join the legion," said Marcus. "But since he is your son, I'll defer to your judgment. Send him back to me with a sealed letter of approval and I'll put him with my _other_ special case."

Jason decided that bringing up the fact that Catreus _wasn't_ his father wouldn't be a good idea, so he held his tongue.

Catreus cleared his throat and closed his mouth. "Of course. Thank you, legatus."

Marcus nodded. "I'll leave you to reconnect." He walked away.

Catreus fixed Jason with a contemplative gaze. "Come inside. Your mother will want to see you."

Jason entered the domus behind him and entered the main living area. There was a woman sitting in a chair filing her nails down matching the exact description Marcus had given. The instant her eyes saw him, a tense silence ensued. It lasted for five seconds before she ran over and embraced him in a suffocating hug.

"My boy!" she cried. "Oh, my sweet, brave boy. I knew you'd return. I knew you'd find your way back to your mother one day."

It took a couple of minutes to finally get her to let go. After that, it took another few minutes for her to stop crying. Then Jason was told to leave the room while the two of them talked. All in all, it was at least half an hour before he was finally able to sit down and speak with them.

"So you want to join the legion then," said Catreus.

Jason nodded.

"And why's that?"

Before he could respond, his mother answered for him. "Because it's his destiny. He was always meant to be a soldier, and the strongest of them all."

Catreus gave her a cold look and she went silent.

"You're not my son," he said. "I know this, you know this."

Jason took a second to respond. "Do you know who is?"

"I know who your mother _thinks_ is your father."

"Jupiter?" Jason offered.

Catreus's eyes widened while his mother's sparkled.

"You met him?" she asked.

"No. Juno, and Lupa."

Her expression tightened. "Juno's the one who took you away from me. She's the one who stole you when you were two."

"She said she 'guided me' to Lupa, who trained me to fight and use my powers."

"She _stole_ you away," his mother insisted. "I wanted nothing more than to raise you as my son, but she took you against my wishes. She called you a peace offering, promised you'd 'bridge the gap'. I didn't know what she meant. I thought she was going to kill you."

"She didn't. I'm here."

She smiled. "You are. And you look so strong."

"What _powers_ are we talking about here?" Catreus asked with a doubtful tone.

Jason felt his skin tingle and he could taste just a hint of metal on his tongue. He channeled lightning through himself and willed it to show itself. Several small sparks danced around his eyes before fading again. Catreus gulped.

Jason's mother turned to her husband with hopeful eyes. "You know what this means? He can carry on the family line."  
Catreus looked thoughtful. "I'm not fond of the idea of a bastard heir. I'd rather my blood live on in descendants named Grace, but so long as your mother fails to bear me children, I say a god's blood is more than suitable for my name."

Jason gritted his teeth. He didn't like this man. He saw his wife as something he owned and could control and children as a personal prize he was owed. But he stood between Jason and the legion, so he kept his opinions to himself.

"I'll allow you to keep my name and for people to believe you're my son," he continued. "In return, I expect legitimate grandchildren. No bastards. The name Grace will live on through you."

"We'll have to find you a bride," his mother said. "You'll have a beautiful wife who'll give you gorgeous, strong children."

"What?" said Jason. He hadn't asked for this. He just wanted to enlist in the legion.

"Well you must be married of course," she said as if it were obvious.

"I have a number of associates that could have viable daughters," Catreus offered. "We'll find the perfect one."

"Hold on," Jason protested. "I don't want to marry anyone."

Technically it wasn't true. There was _one_ person he wanted to marry, but she was probably either already married or soon to be; she also didn't live in Rome.

"Don't be ridiculous," his mother chided. "You must."

"Why?"

"To carry on the family line! Have you not been paying attention?"

"But —"

"You want to join the legion, do you not?" Catreus cut in. "Marcus expects you to hand him my seal. I will not be writing any letters of approval unless you agree to do your part for this family."

Jason had a lot of things he wanted to say in response to that. This wasn't his family; his mother was his family. The name Grace meant nothing to him. He couldn't care less if this man's legacy was carried on. He had half a mind to tell them both off and just wait until he was of age to join the legion, but he knew that'd be a bad idea. Catreus could easily make sure Jason never be permitted entry if he wanted, or do something worse. His options were to agree to his terms or return to Neapoli, and he would never consider that.

Jason wondered if there was another legion he could join. Rome most likely had one stationed in former Greece, but getting there would take a lot more hoops to jump through. Perhaps he could manage to find mercenary work to earn coin and purchase passage there.

Then he thought about Piper. He realized the irony in his situation. Piper took a spouse she didn't get to choose and now Jason would have to marry someone he didn't want to if he's to do what he's meant to. He wondered if the woman his mother wound up choosing had her own love she'd be forced to split up with. That thought in and of itself was almost enough for him to just say no, but he knew it'd be pointless. If Jason didn't marry her, she'd be forced to marry some other "important" bachelor. At least if it was him he could let her live her life how she wished. He doubted anyone else would give their arranged wives that option.

"Fine," Jason said, realizing there was only one right choice to make. "I'll do it."

* * *

"In there, trainee," the legionnaire said while pointing to an isolated building at the back corner of the first cohort's castrum.

Jason walked up the door while the legionnaire walked away, his job of escorting him here done. Inside he found four beds with trunks at the end of them. There was also a weapon rack filled with dull-looking metal swords and four armor mannequins, three of which were empty. One of them had a simple set of leather armor that would only fit someone with a smaller build than him.

"Um, hello," a voice said. Sitting on one of the beds was a girl close to his age, probably a bit older. She had braided black hair and eyes of an identical color. She was definitely pretty, but Jason's heart still only yearned for Piper.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Jason. I'm a new trainee, I guess."

She nodded in understanding. "I'm a trainee too. I've been here for almost a year now. My name's Reyna."

"I wasn't aware that Rome was allowing women to fight."

"Do you have an issue with that?"

"Definitely not."

She gave a thin smile. "Good."

"You mind if I ask what it took for that to happen?"

"Probably similar circumstances as you. My father. . ." She paused and swallowed. "He was well known for his service, so the Senate chose to give me a chance."

"That makes sense. My. . . _father,_ used to be legatus, so that's why they let me in young."

"I hate to break it to you, but you're not going to be doing much until they decide you're old enough to be a legionnaire. It's just training and chores."

"Figures. I suppose it's in the title."

"Indeed." Reyna walked over to the weapon rack and picked up two practice swords. She handed one to him and it felt comfortable in his hand.

It felt like a proper sword that could actually have some power behind its strikes, as opposed to the wooden ones he'd trained with. He gave it a small flourish and did a couple of swings to get a feel for it. He could get used to it.

"Where'd you learn?" Reyna asked.

"A wolf taught me." He said it like a joke, but her eyes widened as if she took the answer seriously.

"A wolf?" she repeated, her posture suddenly tense.

"No, of course not. I taught myself with a friend when I lived in Neapoli."

"Oh." Her shoulders relaxed, but she still looked doubtful.

"Anyway," Jason said, changing the subject. "Can we practice outside or do we need to wait for someone to tell us what to do or something?"

"It's usually later in the day when my — sorry, _our_ — instructor comes. I think we have time to spar."

"Sweet. It's been a bit since I got some decent practice in, so I'm probably rusty."

"Don't expect me to take it easy on you."

He smirked.

She kept her word. The two proceeded to leave the building and went to a secluded area where they could spar freely. Once she attacked, he knew her skill matched his own. She had the upper hand at first and boasted three victories before Jason fell into his groove. He managed to pull a clever trick and claim a win of his own, but then she defeated him once more. It was during that last fight that he finally picked up on her patterns — which were actually _his_ patterns. Her fighting style was identical to his.

Once he realized that, her movements became more predictable. He changed his tactics to use more improvised moves in order to try and catch her off guard. And it worked. He was able to anticipate the actions she was going to take and counter them. This only proved to make her _less_ _difficult _to defeat, because she was still incredibly skilled. In the end, though, he swung the winning strike. She still had two victories on him, but he didn't care about that. He'd learned something.

"Where did _you _train?" he asked her.

Reyna, who was in stance ready to go for another duel, lowered her sword. "My father taught me," she lied.

"Not Lupa?"

Her eyes widened, but only slightly. It seemed she'd come to the same conclusion as him. "I _knew_ it wasn't a jest."

Jason smiled. "So you're a demigod too."

She nodded. "My mother is Bellona. I trained with Lupa for a few years when I was twelve, and then I came here."

"I was raised by her for less than ten years before I went off on my own."

She stared at him. "How young were you?"

"Probably around two when she first took me in. I can't remember my life before Lupa."

She looked impressed. "So who's your mother then?"

"A mortal, who's married to the former legatus. My dad's Jupiter."

She seemed even more impressed by that. "So, if your father's the king of the gods, does that make you the prince?"

"I don't think so. That'd be cool, though."

She nodded in agreement. "I suppose the 'prince of the gods' wouldn't be serving as a legionnaire in a mortal army."

Jason raised his sword again and then took a stance. She followed suit quicker than he'd expected, as if she were constantly ready for a fight. Jason gave his sword a twirl and then pointed it at Reyna.

"Well we can't have the 'prince' losing four to two, can we?" he said.

She smirked and then struck.

* * *

Jason walked past some homes a year and a half later. It was only a couple months prior that he and Reyna, who he'd become close friends with, were officially promoted to full legionnaires. The two had been assigned to the same century in the ninth cohort and hadn't even needed to go through any probationary period like most soldiers, due to them having already gone through all of the training. In their short time as legionnaires, they'd proved fully capable of completing their duties and even earned the respect of their centurion.

As he did his patrol with his sword sheathed at his side and wearing a full set of legionnaire's armor, he noticed something. One of the more lavish looking homes had a single one of its windows open and there was a person casually walking away from it with a sack slung over his shoulder. The sack was bumpy and jagged, as if it were filled with solid objects made from maybe wood or metal. The person's clothes looked dirty and weathered, and he wasn't wearing any form of footwear.

Deciding to investigate, Jason approached the person at a quickened pace and then called out, "Excuse me!"

They turned to take one quick look at him, and then bolted. Having his suspicions all but confirmed, Jason gave chase.

He cursed his armor as he ran. He'd gotten pretty used to wearing it recently, but couldn't deny that he was a lot slower with it on. He couldn't maneuver as well which made running after someone quite difficult. Luckily, the burglar was also being slowed down by the heavy bag they refused to let go of.

After a couple of tight corners, Jason tackled the thief when they hesitated at an intersection. The thief protested and tried to feign innocence, but if they were innocent they wouldn't have run. Once Jason returned to the house with the window open, he found the fretful owner outside of it. Their expression turned from one of annoyance to one of joy when they saw him approach with the thief and their bag of stolen goods.

The owner showed him inside the house where multiple cabinets had been raided of silver plates, goblets, and cutlery. Opening the bag revealed the items listed. The thief had no comment.

"You are a true friend," the house's owner said to him.

"I was just doing my duty," Jason replied humbly.

"A lot of soldiers wouldn't. You have my deepest gratitude."

"Yeah, sure. You're welcome."

"If you ever need anything from me, feel free to ask. You just saved me a fortune."

"That's really not necessary."

"I insist."

Jason contemplated saying no again before realizing there wasn't a point to it. "Alright."

The owner gave him some rope to bind the thief's hands and Jason set off to escort them to the nearest castrum. As he walked around the outside of the house he caught a glimpse into its fenced-in area. Inside was a gorgeous garden, a gazebo, and a fountain.

Jason thought about Piper. He knew she'd like it. He could see the two of them sitting under the gazebo and having a nice picnic or something. He stopped that thought in its tracks. That bridge was burned. He really needed to find a way to move on. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done.

"Hey!" someone called out.

Reyna and Jason stopped their path through the ninth cohort's castrum and turned to the source of the voice. A legionnaire from their century approached them. He was an attractive man that Jason didn't know all that well. All he knew was that he was a good soldier and always friendly to them, so he had Jason's respect.

"What is it, Alexi?" Reyna asked him.

"Sallic is retiring," Alexi informed them.

Jason was surprised by this. "Really?"

"Yeah, and he wants to talk to you two. Said if I saw you I should let you know."

"Did he say what about?" Reyna inquired.

"No. Didn't sound upset though, so I don't think you should worry."

"Right, thanks. Is he in the praetorium?"

"By the training grounds, last I checked."

Reyna gave him an appreciative nod and headed off. Jason patted his shoulder and smiled at him before following her. Sure enough, they found their centurion speaking with his optio there. Reyna waited patiently for them to finish their conversation and then stepped up as soon as the optio walked off.

"Sir, you wished to speak with us?" she said dutifully.

Sallic turned his eyes on them as Jason stepped up next to her. "Arellano, Grace. I'm sure you've heard by now I'll be resigning from my position and retiring from the legion."

"Yep," said Jason.

Reyna shot him a stern look before returning her gaze to their centurion. "We did, sir."

"Then you'll know someone else will have to take my place. And I believe it should be you." His eyes were on Reyna.

She looked between him and Jason twice before accepting that he was talking to her. "Me?"

"Who else? You're the most capable legionnaire in the century. In your relatively short time of service, you've proven quite adept, and achieved more than most legionnaires do in half a decade. You're the woman for the job."

"But. . . has a woman ever been centurion before?"

"A woman has never been a legionnaire before. Would you accept the position or not?"

Reyna took a moment to regain her composure. "Of course. I'd be honored."

"Now before you get too excited, it's not a guarantee you'll get it. I'll be giving my recommendation, but in the end it's not up to me. I just thought I'd let you know I'm putting your name up."

"Right," she said with a bit of disappointment in her voice.

Sallic turned to Jason. "And I assume you'll get the optio position. She'd be stupid not to pick you."

"Uh, right," Jason replied after a moment. "Thank you."

"Just know that I'm rooting for you two. And I'm glad to have been your centurion."

Without waiting for a response, he walked away and left them behind with the unexpected news. Jason turned to Reyna with a grin.

"Stop looking at me like that," she chided. "You heard him. It's not guaranteed."

"The Senate likes you," he reasoned. "And with your record probably even more so now."

"Yes, but Marcus hates me. He could shoot down the idea before it ever reaches the Senate."

"That won't happen. You'll get the promotion. No one deserves it more than you."

She remained silent.

"Alright, we were going to the mess hall, remember? I'm still starving."

"Yes. Let's go."

* * *

Jason wasn't known for his excellent swimming capabilities. He lamented this fact as he hurriedly kicked his way back to shore with a massive sea monster not that far behind him. He'd managed to hit it with a lightning bolt, but that seemed to serve little more purpose than to momentarily stun it. He could feel the beast closing the distance behind him and he picked up the pace. Finally, Jason reached the beach and dashed out onto land, the serpent snapping at him and just barely missing.

Once on the shore, Jason spun around and raised his sword. He eyed it disdainfully. Its make was plain old iron; it was capable of making the monster bleed, but it wouldn't kill it quickly. He really wished he had a celestial bronze sword like Percy or his old imperial gold spear back. The sea serpent might already be dead by now if he did.

It roared at him and Jason retreated even farther onto land. The monster's name was Cetus. It was a large, scaly serpent with a dragon-like head, massive fins, and dozens of razor-sharp teeth. Its eyes were gold and pupils slits, like a snake's. Currently, no more than a bit of its neck rose above the water as it stared at him furiously. It was ready to pounce the second he moved into its range.

It may not come as a surprise, but Hercules killed this thing once (he got around in his time). Apparently he defeated it by actually _allowing_ himself to get swallowed and hacking at it from the inside. There wasn't a chance in Tartarus he was going to attempt to repeat that. Jason's strategy was to poke it full of holes — which he'd been succeeding at by precisely striking between its scales — until it was weakened enough to deal a fatal blow. Judging by the faded crimson in the water surrounding Cetus, he figured he'd done that, and now was the time to deal the killing blow.

Jason dashed forward just enough to taunt it and then jumped back out of its reach as soon as it lashed out at him. His reflexes kicked in and time seemed to move slower. Cetus came at him with its mouth wide open, ready to bite him in half. The air thickened and his hairs stood on end. Lightning shot down from the sky, bounced off his sword, and arced straight into its mouth. Jason celebrated in his head, as he'd attempted to do that twice before and failed because it'd been too fast.

The sea monster let out a gurgling shriek and flopped to the ground, half its body on land and the other still in the water. Unfortunately, it still looked to be alive. Jason had a small window to attack and didn't hesitate to take advantage of it.

He leaped onto the top of its head and used his free hand to get a grip under one of its scales while it wriggled around in agony. He dug the tip of his blade under a different scale and sliced, several coming loose and flying off. Jason immediately began hacking at the exposed bit of skin with his sword over and over until a sizeable gash was visible. Just when the serpent seemed recovered enough to lift its head, Jason called to the skies one last time. A massive bolt of electricity came down and struck squarely through the wound. Cetus made one final struggle and threw Jason clear of it, hearing it shriek all the while.

When Jason got to his feet, the monster's head was completely severed and its body was limp. The head remained but the rest of its carcass turned to golden dust that sank into the ground and sea. He sat down and took a couple of minutes to recover from his exhaustion.

Once he was rested enough, Jason walked past his defeated foe's head to the sea. He removed his armor and used the water to rinse the serpent's blood off of it. He finished one piece and splashed a bit of water in his face to keep himself alert, and then he heard something. He turned and quickly raised his weapon.

Running at him full speed with a sword in hand, was a man several years older than him. He had sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a large scar over his left eye. Percy had painted a clear enough picture for Jason to guess who this was — Luke, the leader of the rebellion.

Jason met his blade with his own and the duel began, and then ended surprisingly quickly. Percy had stated perhaps too many times how skilled this man was in combat. He'd used the words "one of the best swordsmen I've ever seen." And yet here he was, fighting an extremely worn down Jason, and losing in barely a minute. He was good, definitely, but didn't meet Jason's expectations; he was wholly unimpressed.

He dragged the unconscious rebel over to Cetus's head and left him there. He then turned around and spotted the gift Juno had promised him right before the fight began: a large pile of chains.

"Thanks," he said to the air, knowing Juno would hear.

* * *

A while later, once the sun had gotten low, Jason set up camp with his trophy and prisoner. The chain proved to be one long one with shackles on one end of it. He bound Luke and then wrapped the rest of the chain around Cetus's head so that he could drag it behind him. It made travel slow, but he thought it might be necessary if he wanted Marcus to forgive him for deserting.

Jason took a seat leaning against a tree while Luke sat with his back facing him. Jason considered whether he should trust the chains to hold him or wait until Luke was asleep. Before he came to a decision, Luke spoke the only words he'd say on the trip.

"Why do you look like her?"

Jason stared at the back of his head for a moment in surprise. His attempts to get him to talk had been previously unsuccessful, and he'd resigned to thinking it'd stay that way.

"Like who?" he asked.

There was no response.

"Who do I look like?"

Luke remained silent.

"You're going to ask a question but not make it possible for me to answer it?"

The rebel still refused to elaborate. Jason gave up and rested his head back against the tree. He thought for a moment. Obviously he'd lost on purpose. There was no other answer. He'd _wanted_ to get caught, but why?

Try as he might, Jason came up with no answers. Eventually, he decided to just let himself sleep. If Luke wanted to get caught, he had to have something bigger in mind than just killing him while he was unconscious. His eyes slid shut and soon he drifted off.

* * *

Not even an hour passed after Percy departed on his quest to save the Greek gods when Jason saw something weird. Standing in the middle of the castrum — which itself was practically in the middle of Rome — was a goat. He looked around to try and gauge everyone else's reactions to it, but they were all acting as if it weren't there.

"So I'm seeing goats now," he muttered. A passing legionnaire gave him a strange glance at that but made no comment.

Jason approached the goat and it trotted off; he followed it. It led him out of the castrum and down a street. It took a turn between two buildings and Jason entered the alley behind it. When he turned the corner, the goat was gone. In its stead, Juno stood waiting for him.

"My champion," Juno said with a warm smile at his approach.

Jason kneeled before her. "My lady."

He should have assumed it was her doing. Goats _are_ sacred to her after all. She literally wears a goatskin cloak.

"Rise," she said impatiently.

Jason stood. "What do you need from me, lady Juno?"

"One more quest," she said.

Jason paused. "One more?"

"Yes. This is the last time we will be speaking."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"No, nothing has happened. I only require one last quest from you, and it is undoubtedly your most important one."

"After that, I won't be your champion anymore?"

"You'll always be my champion, Jason Grace. If not in deeds, then in title."

"What is the quest?"

"You shall find my guide outside the city. He will lead you to a location, and there you'll find your answers."

"Is that all?"

She nodded. "Our time together has concluded. You've made me proud."

"Thank you, my lady."

"As much as I'd enjoy a long, teary goodbye, we haven't the time. You have a small window to reach your destination, so make haste. Goodbye, my champion."

Then she disappeared. He'd never see her again, if her words were to be believed. He wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved.

* * *

Jason jogged after the goat, quickly running out of breath. He'd left his armor back in Rome but kept the sword and all the supplies he'd purchased with his own money. He doubted even Reyna — who he hadn't even been able to say goodbye to — being legatus would be enough to forgive his second desertion, but he knew stealing legion armor wouldn't help his chances.

After a very long time of jogging and a handful of short rests, Jason reached his destination. It was after the sky had been dark for a while that the goat led him off the road and into the trees. Jason followed it but it picked up speed and then he lost sight of it. He continued in the general direction the goat had gone until he spotted light. He came out into a small clearing in which there was a camp occupied by three people. A centaur he'd met before stood by the fire holding a bow. A pretty girl with blonde hair and grey eyes that seemed to be analyzing him was standing next to a tree, a dagger in her hand. And toward the edge of the camp, Percy was asleep on his back.

Jason raised his hands in surrender but the centaur had already returned his arrow to its quiver and slung the bow over his back. The girl was still looking at him skeptically and Percy remained asleep.

"Ah," said Chiron. "You're Jason, if I recall correctly?"

Jason nodded.

"You know him?" the girl asked the centaur.

"I do," Chiron answered. "He is a friend of Percy's. Jason, this is Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" he repeated in recognition. "You're Percy's — you _were_ Percy's. . . uh."

He trailed off, the deadly look in her eyes unnerving him.

"You were in the rebellion," he finished awkwardly.

She didn't respond. Instead, she sheathed her dagger and sat down with her back against the tree. Jason turned his attention from her back to Chiron.

"I didn't know I'd find you here, or Percy," he told him.

"So what _did_ bring you here?" Chiron asked.

"Juno sent me," he answered, deciding to leave out the detail about following a goat. "She said I'd find answers here."

"To which questions?"

"She told me I was to do my most important quest, but didn't say what it was."

"Indeed?" The centaur stroked his bearded chin and looked thoughtful. After a moment he looked Jason over. "You look tired."

"Yeah, little bit," he said casually, even though his legs were incredibly sore and he felt like he could sleep on a rock right then.

"Rest, then. It'd be best to discuss these unexpected circumstances once Percy is awake."

A few minutes later, Jason lay in a simple makeshift cot and closed his eyes. It didn't take long for sleep to take him, and dreams followed shortly after.

He saw a girl, maybe a couple of years shy of adulthood. She had a face that kind of reminded him of his mother's. She had choppy black hair and blue eyes of a lighter shade than his own. He felt like he should know her, but didn't.

Then the girl wasn't alone. She was standing with a spear in hand next to a teenage Luke. They stared down a large ugly man with only one eye in the center of his head. He held a jagged, rusty greatsword in one hand. The girl charged at him but the cyclops smacked her away effortlessly, slashing at her with his sword while she was airborne. She let out a yell as she hit the ground, and then stopped moving. Luke called her name but remained in stance. A young girl ran out of hiding to her side, narrowly avoiding being hit by the cyclops's sword. She looked like a child version of Annabeth.

Then the scene changed. The girl lay on the ground looking very pale. Luke was kneeling beside her with a tearstained face, clutching her hand in his. Annabeth was on her knees on the girl's other side, pouring water into her mouth. Then the girl batted the canteen away. She let out a cough, and whispered her last words. Then she was gone.

Jason woke with a start. He looked around and saw that Annabeth had fallen asleep but Percy had yet to wake up. Chiron was still by the fire, stoking the flames. The sky only looked a little bit lighter.

He didn't know why he'd woken so early. There'd been a dream, but he didn't know what it'd been about. The image of her face was in his memory, but it was fuzzy. He knew she had black hair, and that was about it.

Jason brushed the thought aside. If the dream was important he'd remember it. He took a seat by the fire and accepted a bowl of stew from Chiron. He sipped at it and not long passed before Annabeth was awake. A little while later, Percy finally woke up too.

* * *

Jason felt lighter than air. For the first time in years, he was completely happy. All this time he'd had that one thing holding him back, but not anymore. He finally had the answers he'd always regretted not asking for and felt completely satisfied. For once, he was excited for the future to come, but right now he needed to focus on the present.

After about half an hour of searching for Percy, he finally found him near the docks; in hindsight, that should've been the first place he looked. The son of Poseidon was standing at the pier looking out over the sea. Jason walked up to him and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"Oh, hey," Percy said after turning to face him, then he frowned. "Why are you smiling like that?"

Jason hadn't realized he'd been doing it. He made a conscious effort to make his face look normal then said, "It's nothing. How did it go with Gallio?"

Percy didn't seem content with that answer but accepted the change of subject regardless. "Great, honestly. He was pretty grateful for stopping his would-be assassin and returning the horse and all. I told him about the things that went down back in Rome recently. Turns out he never liked Marcus either."

"That's awesome. So what about the boat?"

Percy pointed at a ship off in the distance, slowly making its way closer. "That's ours."

"It's _ours_?"

"Well, for at least a little while. There'll be a crew and captain and everything, but Gallio promised it'll take us all the way to Lamia. We can sail tomorrow morning."

"Nice. So why are you just watching it then?"

"I wasn't sure whether you'd try to find me at Leo's workshop first or here. I didn't know how long whatever you were doing was going to take, so I decided to just chill here for a while."

Jason chose not to mention that he _hadn't_ thought to check Leo's and Archimedes III's workshop. "Well, I guess we need somewhere to sleep tonight."

"Leo said to stop by before we left anyway, so we may as well ask. I haven't got the money for an inn room."

Jason motioned for Percy to lead the way and then followed him back to the workshop.


	30. XXIX

Percy hadn't been exaggerating his capabilities. With him controlling their vessel and the seas as well as Jason manipulating the winds in their favor, it only took them a little over a week to sail all the way from Neapoli to Lamia. Their ship was probably the first in history to make a voyage of that length in that short a time. It'd been relatively uneventful, too. A few sea monsters tried to get at them, but most were too slow to keep pace with them so they gave up. Only a couple had the speed to persist, and the two demigods had made short work of them.

Once they reached port, their captain shook each of their hands vigorously. He was so impressed by them that he promised he'd stay in Lamia for two weeks and give them a free return trip to wherever they wanted to go should they ask for it. Percy didn't know whether they'd be making use of that offer, but was glad to have the option.

They only lingered in Lamia for half a day. Jason had proven ill-suited for sailing and needed time to recover from his seasickness. If Percy was being honest, he was also grateful for the chance to just take a rest after exerting himself so much. Once his feet had touched dry land, the extra energy he'd gained from the ocean had faded away and left him feeling more tired than he'd been in a very long time.

So the pair of demigods spent several hours resting and then took to the road on foot — they didn't have the coin to buy horses after Jason spent most of what he had on a map. It was a long journey and they faced a number of monsters, but Jason's new celestial bronze sword — a gift from Leo — meant they were both well equipped for taking them down quickly. Percy was honestly kind of jealous of it; it was made entirely out of celestial bronze while his only had it on half the blade's edge. He missed the one he'd lost back in Carthage.

In a single day, they made it less than a third of the way to Larissa. Percy was planning on calling it a night soon when he heard something. Off in the distance, there was a very faint yelling. It sounded like some people were in danger. Percy immediately ran toward the source of the noise.

"Where are you going?" Jason took off after him.

"Can't you hear that?" Percy yelled over his shoulder.

"Hear what?"

Percy didn't respond, and instead picked up the pace. The yelling got progressively louder. After half a minute, he could make out the words; they sounded close now.

"_Guido! No!_" one yelled.

"_He's gone. We must flee!_"

"_But our wings!_"

_Wings?_ Percy thought.

Finally, they arrived at a scene that made Percy's stomach sink. Lying around were four motionless horses with wings — pegasi. There was blood everywhere, and not all of the carcasses were in one piece. Some kind of green liquid had been splashed all over, too, which looked to eat at the skin of the pegasi it touched. The only two left alive were backed against the face of a short cliff by a large, multi-headed monster.

"Chimera," Jason said.

At the sound of his voice, the beast turned to face the two of them. The front half of its body was that of a lioness, with a scarred and maneless head to match. Sticking out of its side was a goat's head which seemed to serve no other purpose than to glare at them and bare its surprisingly pointy teeth. The back end of its body was scaly and reptilian, and where there should have been a tail protruded a long diamondback snake; its head turned and hovered between the other two, green venom dripping out of its mouth. The chimera looked skinny, and angry.

"Run away!" Percy shouted at the pegasi.

For some reason, they were hesitant. They gave each other a strange glance before doing as instructed. The chimera snarled furiously. It could probably eat every last pegasus present and still be hungry, and they'd just cost it two. Its snake head shot forward and spat a stream of green venom at them; Jason and Percy simultaneously rolled in different directions to avoid it. The venom splashed onto the ground and made a hissing sound.

Jason charged its left flank and Percy went for its right. The goat head snapped at him, but didn't have enough mobility to come even close to biting him. The snake head went for Jason, which was a mistake. The son of Jupiter swiped his sword up in a clean arc and the snake head went flying away, spilling out blood and a few last drops of venom. The lion head roared and pounced at him and Jason did a backward somersault to avoid it, but the chimera persisted.

Percy ran at it and leapt onto its back. He brought his sword down and drove the tip straight through the back of its main neck. It stumbled and let out a roar from both remaining heads. Both tried to turn and get at him but failed. Jason leaped forward and brought his sword up through the roof of the lion's mouth. The beast exploded into golden dust and Percy dropped to the ground, landing on his feet.

The two only need a couple of seconds to catch their breaths, then looked around at the dead pegasi. Percy knelt down by the nearest one and softly touched its lifeless face. He felt personally offended. Horses were sacred to his father, and he'd been too late to stop this massacre. It was as if the Fates thought this an amusing joke to play on him.

"_You slew her!_"

Percy turned around. The two pegasi trotted back up to them. One had a sleek, black coat and the other was a rich brown. The black one stopped at the side of a white one and nudged it with its nose.

"_Guido,_" it said sadly.

"I thought I told you to run," Percy said to it.

The black pegasus turned its eyes on him. "_We did, and came back once you finished her off. We had to thank you._"

The brown one nodded in agreement.

Percy stared at them with widened eyes. "You're. . . intelligent."

The black pegasus neighed indignantly. "_Of course we're intelligent!_"

"Sorry," Percy said. "I'm just used to horses being more. . . short on words."

"_We are not regular horses, son of the sea,_" the brown one stated.

"You know who I am?"

"_You kidding?_" said the black one. "_You smell more like saltwater than the ocean does. And you can understand us. Obviously your dad's Poseidon._"

"Well, I can't fault you there." Percy glanced at Jason who was standing around awkwardly, having no idea what the pegasi were saying. He returned his gaze to the two pegasi and decided to jump to the matter at hand. "So what happened here? Why did none of you just fly away?"

The black pegasus looked down to the fallen one by its feet again. "_We were just flying along when we heard their cries for help, Guido, Scipio, and me — Blackjack. They all had that green stuff on them. We think the monster took them by surprise and went for their wings so they couldn't escape._"

"_We attempted to lend aid by distracting it long enough for them to flee,_" the brown pegasus, Scipio, said. "_But it was faster than we'd anticipated._"

"_It hit us with that green stuff and it hurt like crazy,_" said Blackjack. "_Grazed our wings just enough to ground us. Then he got Guido right before you guys showed up._"

Percy bowed his head. "I'm sorry we didn't get here sooner."

Blackjack nodded solemnly. "_Me too._"

* * *

Blackjack and Scipio promised them they'd be able to fly them wherever they wanted to go as thanks for saving their lives, but only after their wings were healed. Percy asked how they could help make that happen, but they brushed off the question and said they'd take care of it once they'd attended to the fallen.

So, as per the pegasi's request, Percy and Jason proceeded to spend the next couple hours building a sort of wooden sled and weaving hempen ropes. They placed the dead pegasi on top of it and together dragged it whilst following the pegasi, who were supposedly going to lead them to a "sanctuary". Percy had offered to bury them or build a pyre, but Scipio had put his hoof down. According to him, burial at sea was the only way pegasi wished to be laid to rest. If they got them back to their supposed sanctuary, then they'd find friends who could carry them the rest of the way to the Mare Nostrum.

It only took an hour before Scipio announced that they'd reached their destination. It didn't look like much. They'd entered into a small, hilly forest and stopped at a pretty secluded area. It was quite rocky which made dragging the wooden construct more difficult. The pegasi faced the side of a hill that was made entirely of stone and rocks, but Percy couldn't see anything of interest anywhere.

"Uh, where is it?" he asked.

Blackjack raised his hoof and pointed at the rocky hillside. "_There._"

"Uh. . ." was all Percy had to say in response.

"_Observe,_" said Scipio. The brown pegasus trotted forward and walked straight into the side of the hill and disappeared.

"_This is the Cave of Pegasus,_" Blackjack told him. "_It's got some freaky spell on it so you can't find it unless you know it's here._"

"Don't you mean 'cave of pegasi'?" Percy asked.

Blackjack shook his head. "_Just come inside. You can leave them out here._"

He followed Scipio's lead and disappeared into the hill, leaving the two of them alone with the dead pegasi. Jason raised an eyebrow at Percy, who dropped his rope and stepped up to the hill.

"Well," he said. "May as well try it. Come on."

Jason shrugged and stood beside him. Together, they walked right up to the side of the hill. Right when Percy thought their feet would connect with the hillside, the rocks disappeared. In their place was a tall, wide cave entrance. They proceeded through it. They barely took a few more steps before four pegasi flew over their heads and out of the entrance they'd just come through, presumably to tend to their fallen brethren.

Inside they found perhaps the most magnificent cave Percy had ever seen, not that he'd seen many. It was massive — so big in fact that there was literally no way it could fit inside that small hill. The ground inside was covered in tall grass. Lining the walls were many ledges and natural balconies. At the back of the cave, there was a sparkling pond with a thin stream of water trickling into it from a hole in the wall. The most obvious thing about the cave, though, was that it was completely filled with pegasi. There were some sipping from the pond, nibbling at the grass, sleeping on the ledges, and even flying around in the big open space. They all looked so peaceful and comfortable. A gorgeous ray of sunshine beamed down on them from a hole in the ceiling; that wasn't the brightest thing in the room, however.

Right in the center of the cave, there was one pegasus larger than all the others. It was at least twice the height of Blackjack, even with his legs folded beneath him. His head was bowed and eyes firmly shut. His face was a mix of crimson and gold. The rest of his coat was a darker shade of brown than Scipio's but covered in spots of varying colors and shades: white, black, gray, yellow, brown, and even blue. Jason came to the realization before he did.

Jason gasped. "Is that. . . _him_?"

"_Yes_," Blackjack answered, even though he couldn't hear him. "_That is Pegasus, our ancestor and god._"

"_Your brother_," Scipio added, who was laying in the grass near him, his injured wings spread wide.

Poseidon once had an affair with Medusa in Athena's temple, which caused the goddess to curse her. When Percy's namesake — the original Perseus — severed her head, two beings were born from her blood when it dripped into the sea: Chrysaor, an infamous pirate, and Pegasus, the first winged horse. Since they shared the same father, that did technically make Percy their brother.

"He's asleep," Percy said.

Blackjack sat down near Pegasus as well and then nodded sadly. "_Yes. He's been like that since I was just a foal._"

Percy approached him in awe, only getting as close as he could before the other pegasi started eyeing him dangerously. This was an actual Greek god. Juno hadn't impressed him as much, but probably because she'd chosen to mask her power. Pegasus, on the other hand, gave off a glowing aura that made all of its descendants' coats reflect gold. He could feel his power radiating off of him, but he also felt it waning.

"He's dying," Jason muttered.

Several pegasi neighed and shuffled upon hearing that, but none moved. They knew it was true, but perhaps they just didn't like hearing it said aloud. Percy could only imagine how strong the god's aura must have felt ten years ago, and didn't want to know how weak it'd be ten years from now if he failed in his duty.

"We'll save him," Percy announced.

That brought everyone's attention toward him.

"_How?_" one asked.

"All of the Greek gods are sharing in Pegasus's fate," he said. "We were given a quest to save them. We don't know what it'll take or how we'll do it, but I believe we'll find answers on Olympus."

"_So you're just guessing that you'll be able to restore his strength?_" another pegasus said doubtfully.

"Juno sent Jason to help me. How can we fail if a literal goddess is endorsing us?"

A black pegasus neighed and stomped her hoof. "_Juno? How can you trust her? She's Roman._"

Percy stared at her. "You don't like Romans?"

Jason shifted uncomfortably.

"_We know the Roman pegasi have done nothing but look down on us whenever we try and fly near their lands. Pegasus's Roman counterpart has actively shunned and avoided us because we weren't descended from him, even going so far as to let some of us die when asked for help._"

Percy glanced at Jason. "That's just one instance. You can't blame them all for one god and his descendants' actions."

"_We can._"

"_Hey!_" Blackjack said defiantly. "_These demigods saved our lives. I know Roman pegasi have been known to be mean, but if they say they can save Pegasus then I trust them._"

There was some murmuring, and Percy heard every word. They were divided on the issue, but they eventually came to a consensus.

"_We won't try and stop them, but so long as they consort with Romans they'll see no aid from us._"

"_Except me,_" said Blackjack.

"_And I,_" Scipio agreed.

The other pegasi remained silent.

Scipio looked at Percy. "_His presence bolsters and heals us. We'll be well enough to depart in the morning. We will fly you to Olympus and wherever else your quest shall take you._"

"Thank you," said Percy.

"_Not a problem, Boss,_" said Blackjack.

"Don't call me that."

"_You got it, Boss._"

Percy turned to Jason.

"Uh, care to explain what just happened?" the son of Jupiter asked.

Percy told him. After that, the two left the cave to find a place to camp for the night. Percy didn't feel comfortable going to sleep near all the spiteful pegasi, and sleeping outside was nothing new by this point. The wooden sled containing the slain pegasi was gone, and he was happy in knowing they'd find peace.

* * *

As promised, the two pegasi's wings were as good as new the following day. After waking up, the demigods took only enough time to eat and prepare for the journey. The pegasi soared into the skies with Percy on Blackjack and Jason riding Scipio.

Flying was a strange experience. Percy never thought he'd feel so comfortable being that high above sea level, but he took to riding a pegasus like he'd been doing it his whole life. Sure, the idea that if he just leaned too far to the side he'd plummet to his death was scary, but he trusted his steed. He supposed his father often being at odds with the lord of the skies was balanced out by him also being the creator of horses.

A journey that should have taken them a few more days ended in several hours. Blackjack and Scipio only had to land twice to rest their wings during the flight, completely skipping over Larissa. But finally, way sooner than they'd suspected, their destination came into view — Mount Olympus. Percy had no words to describe it. It was just a mountain, but he was completely humbled by the sight of it. He was about to be in the presence of the actual Olympians, possibly even his father.

"_We're here,_" Blackjack said as they touched ground one more time.

Scipio landed beside them with Jason.

"I never thought I'd get to see it in person," his friend said in awe.

"And we'll get to see the city too," Percy replied.

"_When your brother, Bellerophon, attempted to ride Pegasus to the city,_" Scipio explained, "_he wound up crippled for the rest of his life at the hands of Zeus. Are you certain you wish to attempt this?_"

"Zeus is asleep. There's no reason to fear repeating history."

"Repeating history?" said Jason.

"Bellerophon once rode Pegasus —"

"Oh, right! I remember now. Jupi — uh, sorry. _Zeus _sent a gadfly to bite Pegasus which caused Bellerophon to bucked off. It'd be pretty bad if that happened to us."

"It won't," Percy insisted.

"_I trust you, Boss,_" said Blackjack.

Percy sighed, realizing that name was going to stick.

"_If you wish to take the risk,_" said Scipio, "_then we will ascend on your mark._"

"You ready?" Percy asked Jason.

The son of Jupiter nodded.

"Let's go."

The pegasi spread their wings once more and lifted off the ground. As they rose, clouds rapidly formed around the peak of the mountain. Soon, they obscured Mount Olympus entirely. The pegasi rose higher than where the peak had been and then dove through the clouds. For several seconds, Percy couldn't see a thing. Then the skies cleared and a small, sprawling city met his eyes.

Honestly, it was a letdown. This was the actual city of the gods. He'd expected gold and marble everywhere you could see. He thought even the least grand building here would still be more interesting than the most impressive one humans ever built. But Olympus looked like a regular old village. There were a couple dozen buildings at most and were all of the highest quality, that much was certain, but it didn't come close to comparing to any of the mortal cities Percy had seen during his life. There was some marble here and there and an occasional statue made of polished copper, but the main material used was wood and common stones. On top of all that, it was eerily vacant; there wasn't anyone to be seen in the entire city.

"_It's not just the gods that are dying,_" Blackjack told him, as if he knew what he was thinking.

Percy didn't need him to explain any further. Maybe a decade ago Olympus would have exceeded his expectations. It seemed that during the gods' slumber the city had deteriorated with them — gold changed to bronze, marble turned to basalt or granite, and wood replaced whatever other elegant material that met the gods' standards. He wondered how much longer this would have to continue before there wasn't even a city left.

Blackjack and Scipio landed on a cobblestone pathway that snaked between the buildings. They folded their wings and didn't seem willing to go any farther.

"_It feels wrong, Boss,_" said Blackjack. "_I don't want to go there._"

"_Nor I,_" Scipio agreed. "_It's. . . corrupted._"

"What does that mean?" Percy asked.

"_I'm honestly not certain. The gods are here, that much we can know. But it feels as if their auras are combating with something. If you wish to proceed, you must do so without us._"

Percy slid off of Blackjack and his feet touched the ground. He stumbled and had to catch his balance; he'd forgotten how long they'd been flying.

"_Sorry, Boss,_" said Blackjack.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "We'll go alone."

Hearing this, Jason dismounted Scipio and stood beside him. "They're not coming?"

Percy shook his head. "Said something about their auras fighting something. They don't want to get closer."

"Let's go then."

"_We'll be right here when you're done,_" Blackjack promised.

Percy nodded to them and then started down the path with Jason by his side. As they walked, he peeked through a few windows of the houses but found them vacant at first glance. Maybe he'd find someone if he went inside, but he was here for one thing: answers. He was willing to bet that if they were on Olympus, they'd be in Zeus's palace, not some random houses. If need be, he'd search them last.

"I feel like a trespasser here," Jason muttered.

Percy glanced at him. He opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say in response. The two continued in silence.

Only a minute of walking ensued before the palace came into sight, and its grandeur matched the rest of the buildings. It was barely larger than the Curia Hostilia and shaped like a rectangle. It was still comprised mainly of marble, but there were a lot of copper details and trims that Percy guessed used to be solid gold. He also had a sneaking suspicion that it used to be a lot larger.

Jason hesitated near the steps but Percy marched right on up to the double-door. He considered knocking, but realized that would be pointless. He pulled the doors open wide. He made two great strides into the palace before he saw what was inside, and then stopped in his tracks.

The entrance led directly into the throne room. Twelve chairs sat around an unlit hearth in a 'U' shape. Each one was unique, but not all that special. In the thrones, the twelve Olympians sat slumped with their eyes closed, their chests slowly rising and falling as they breathed. The goddesses took the five chairs on the left half of the room and the gods took the other seven chairs on the right half.

Percy could immediately tell who was who. From closest to farthest on the left, he saw Artemis, Aphrodite, Athena, Demeter, and Hera. To the right of her, directly opposite the entrance, was Zeus. To _his_ left was Poseidon, Percy's father. He slept in his green chair looking uncomfortable, and his hand held onto a solid gold trident that stood tall. He had the same black hair as him and even in his sleep looked to have an easy-going attitude. Percy slowly approached him, as if in a trance, but stopped before having even made it halfway.

The hearth in the center of the room suddenly ignited in a massive, raging fire. Percy stared at it in awe for a couple of seconds before it died down to the size of a regular campfire. There was someone sitting on the other side of it. She was cross-legged and holding an iron poker. She looked to be about nine years old with unkempt brown hair and eyes that bore tiny flames in place of pupils.

"Hello Perseus, Jason Grace," the girl said in a tired voice.

A familiar warm breeze briefly brushed past him. Percy walked toward her and heard Jason's footsteps behind him. He knew who she was. The girl was Hestia, the goddess of the hearth and home, and she was awake.


	31. XXX

"Please, sit down," Hestia said to them. "We haven't much time."

Percy and Jason glanced at each other and then did as she asked. They sat down just far enough from the hearth that the heat didn't bother them. Hestia smiled at them warmly, but Percy couldn't help but notice how worn out she looked. Her hair was a mess and her eyes had pronounced bags beneath them, which looked unnatural on her nine-year-old appearance.

She gave off a strange aura that he could almost recognize. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, too. There was this tugging feeling in the back of his mind telling him he'd met her before, even though he knew for a fact that he hadn't.

"Lady Hestia, how are you awake?" Percy asked her. "I thought all of you were asleep."

"I was," she said. "In fact, I was the first to fall asleep, a full year before the fall of Greece."

"Why?" said Jason.

"We all saw what was happening; we knew how the war would end. We had no right to interfere, so we watched in wait. Zeus refused to see the signs. His stubbornness was going to lead to our downfall, so I sought out the Fates. I made a deal with them. I'd fall into my slumber early, on the condition that I get to wake for a short period the next time a demigod stepped foot into this palace."

"You mean us?"

She nodded. "You two play the most important roles in freeing us from our condition."

Jason looked surprised. "Me too?"

"Of course."

"But. . . I'm Roman."

She looked at him curiously. "You may have lived your whole life in Roman territory, but your veins run thick with both Roman and Greek blood. It's the reason your mother managed to attract the eye of Zeus."

"Jupiter," he corrected automatically.

"No. I meant Zeus. Seven years before giving birth to you, your mother bore a child named Thalia."

"Wait, did you just say _Thalia_?" Percy said incredulously. He looked to Jason and then grew concerned.

His face was blank for a single second before he suddenly clutched his head and grimaced, like he was having a severe headache. Several seconds passed before he regained his composure. Jason's expression showed nothing but shock as he looked at Hestia and said in a small voice, "I'm remembering. . . dreams I had."

"Yes," Hestia said gently. "Your half-sister was Thalia, daughter of Zeus."

Percy remembered something Annabeth had said before they left. _You remind me of someone I used to know._ She'd been talking about Thalia, because Jason was her brother.

"So, Luke. . ." said Jason.

"I understand that you must be overwhelmed," Hestia told him, "but you must put this news aside for the moment. My time to speak with you is limited."

Jason was silent for a moment, and then he gave her a slow nod.

"You are the bridge between Greece and Rome. Your actions will not only save us, but also prevent history from repeating itself. I'm speaking to the both of you."

"What does that mean?" Percy asked. "'History repeating itself'?"

"Greece was once thought to be infallible, but we know that that, of course, wasn't true. People today believe the same about Rome. It could take another thousand years or two, but it will one day fall like all empires. Should that day come and we aren't prepared, the Roman gods will be in this same predicament."

"If that's a thousand years off, why do we need to worry about it? Why do _you_ even need to worry about it at all? Aren't your pantheons separate?"

"Time is malleable. A thousand years may seem like a lot to you, but to immortals, it doesn't even feel like a lifetime. I don't expect you to understand, but the crisis of the future is linked with the crisis of today. You two shall stop them both at the same time."

"How?"

"Through unity," she answered unhelpfully.

Percy glanced at Jason. He looked deeply troubled, and he couldn't blame him. How would _he_ react if he found out that he had a dead sibling he'd never known about? He returned his eyes to Hestia and stared at her expectantly. When she spoke again, her voice sounded even more drowsy than before, like she could fall asleep at any moment.

"You'll find the answers you seek in Delphi. Present Pandora's Pithos to the Oracle and she will reveal the next steps of your journey."

"Wait, Pandora's Pithos? The Oracle? None of this makes any sense."

"It will," she promised. "You'll find the Oracle exactly where you'd expect. The Pithos was last in possession of Prometheus. You must take it from his sanctum."

"Prometheus? You want us to steal from a _titan_?"

She nodded and yawned. "He'll be asleep too, so you needn't worry about suffering his wrath. Our time together has come to close, I'm afraid. You will find the sanctum by flying two hours west from the place where Pegasus was tamed."

The fire suddenly began rapidly dying and she looked to be struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Wait!" Percy said urgently. "Why is the pithos important? Why can't you just tell us whatever the Oracle will?"

"Good luck, young heroes. I know the Fates can be difficult, but trust in their wisdom. Remember, unity is the key."

The flame died completely and she toppled to her side. Her flaming eyes slid shut and the goddess went still. Percy felt compelled to go help her, but knew there was nothing he could do. She was just asleep, and looked to be peacefully so. He'd have to make do with what little information she'd given them.

Percy looked over to his friend. "Did you understand any of that?"

Jason was silent for a bit, and then rose to his feet. "She told us where we have to go. I understood that."

Percy eyed him cautiously. _He_ was completely surprised by the news about Thalia being Jason's sister; he could only imagine what it must be like for him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

Jason nodded. "I do. Once we're in the air."

Percy was surprised. He hadn't expected that to be so easy. Jason rarely opened up, but he wasn't about to complain. His eyes glazed over the Olympians again before resting on his father one last time. He let his gaze linger for only a few seconds before turning toward the door. There'd be plenty enough time to gawk at him once he was awake, if his father even chose to acknowledge him when that time came.

He started out of Zeus's palace and Jason followed beside him. Together the two took to the cobblestone road and traveled back the way they'd come. Soon enough they reached their pegasi who were waiting for them as promised.

"_Back so soon? How'd it go, Boss?_" Blackjack asked.

Percy told them. Once he was finished explaining — which didn't take long — the only thing the two pegasi didn't seem as confused as them about was the "place where Pegasus was tamed" part.

"_When Bellerophon attempted to fly to the top of Olympus,_" Scipio explained, "_he didn't ride any old pegasus; he rode _the _Pegasus. Our lord has very rarely allowed humans to ride him, but Bellerophon managed it with the aid of Athena. He was the first, in fact, to ride _any _pegasus._"

"_Every one of our kind knows how to get to the place where he was first tamed,_" Blackjack said. "_It's not even that far from here, just a few hours._"

Percy glanced up at the sky. The sun was getting close to setting, but they still had enough daylight left for travel. He then looked to Jason who still appeared to be in distress.

"They know where to go," he told him.

"Good. Let's go then." Jason climbed atop Scipio and looked ready to fly.

Once Percy had mounted Blackjack, the pegasi flapped their wings and lifted off. They descended through the clouds until the surface world was visible again. They proceeded away from Mount Olympus and almost directly back in the direction they'd come from. A few minutes of flying passed before Jason spoke up.

"My mother," he said. "She never told me."

Percy had to contemplate for a moment before he chose what to say. "Annabeth used to tell me stories about her."

Jason looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"She preferred to fight with a spear. Annabeth would go on and on about her ability to twirl it around rapidly, throwing out thrusts and jabs with it as she did so. She once told me how she threw it like a javelin and managed to nail a scorpion a couple dozen paces away."

Jason looked impressed.

"_Uh, who are you talking about here?_" Blackjack asked.

"Thalia," Percy answered quietly enough so only he could hear. "His sister he didn't know he had."

"_Oh._"

A short silence ensued before Jason spoke again. "What was she like, though? Did Annabeth ever say?"

He thought about it for a moment. He'd never gotten the chance to meet Thalia, but after all these years of listening to Annabeth, he felt like he knew her.

"She was protective. Overly so, even. Annabeth used to complain about how Thalia never let her fight her own battles. She was strong and brave, and supposedly short-tempered. But she was always super gentle and caring to those she loved — namely Annabeth and Luke."

"She sounds great. I. . . really wish I'd gotten the chance to know her."

"You'll see each other in Elysium."

"Yeah. We will."

The conversation ended there. Percy felt like he should say more but couldn't find the right words. "I'm sorry," just seemed too easy and didn't convey enough meaning. So instead he held his tongue, and they flew in silence.

* * *

The sun had just set when Scipio estimated they were about an hour away from the place where Pegasus was tamed. Percy made the call to land and rest for a night, which everyone present was grateful for. He and Jason built a fire and prepared a decent meal from their supplies while the pegasi munched on a healthy patch of grass. Jason took first watch and then Percy took the second.

Once morning came Percy chose to wait until the pegasi woke on their own before rousing Jason. After all, it was they who were doing all the hard work on this journey. He could only guess how straining long-distance flying was for them. He'd tried offering to let them go since they'd already done so much, but they'd insisted on helping in any way they could. He needed to think of a good way to properly thank them once all of this was said and done.

Eventually, everyone was well-rested and ready to go, so the demigods hopped onto the pegasi and they took to the skies yet again. Soon enough the pegasi stopped and hovered over a pretty unremarkable cliff. Scipio informed them that that was the place, and then they both changed course to fly due west without even landing. A couple of hours later, they reached their destination.

The pegasi touched down and acted uneasy. Right ahead of them, in the middle of nowhere, was a stone temple built into the side of a mountain. It looked like a dark grey version of the Parthenon — not that he'd ever seen it in person — with just a few alterations. Rather than a triangular roof, it slanted upward from the left edge of the building toward the right, and the entire structure was a lot smaller. It had far fewer pillars but they were wider and a lot more intricate, with murals carved into every one of them. One depicted giant hands shaping lumps of clay into humans; another showed the same giant hands bestowing fire upon mankind. A third showed a man wearing the pelt of a lion rescuing someone from a flock of giant vultures. The rest were of a similar nature. Prometheus couldn't have made it any more obvious that this was his temple if he'd tried.

"_I feel his aura,_" said Scipio. "_It's corrupted as well. Like Olympus, only weaker._"

"I still don't know what that means," Percy replied.

"_Neither do we_," Blackjack admitted.

Jason slid off of Scipio. "This is it. Let's get what we came for."

"Right." Percy dropped to the ground and turned to the pegasi. "We'll be back shortly."

"_We shall await your return_," said Scipio.

The two demigods walked up to Prometheus's sanctum and pushed the doors wide open. Inside, they found a lot more than a sleeping titan and a pithos. There were six more pillars on the interior holding up the ceiling, each with their own unique murals. Piles upon piles of gold and silver surrounded each of them. It took the form of coins, goblets, plates, statuettes, shields, and whatever else you could think of. If it exists, a silver or gold variant of it lay on the floor of the sanctum.

At the back of the building sat a throne; it was also made of gold and silver. A man who could only be Prometheus himself slumped in it, fast asleep. He was adorned with a golden crown, necklace, and numerous bracelets. His hair was dark and tied back in a ponytail and his face had several deep scars on it. Even in his sleep, he looked to be deep in thought, as if concocting some sort of clever scheme to wake himself up.

Percy looked around at all the items. "This might take a while."

"It's right there." Jason pointed.

Percy followed his finger and couldn't tell what he was trying to point out at first. When he looked closer, he realized there was an item on either side of Prometheus. They were obscured by the throne's shadow. To his right was the severed head of a giant vulture, and to his left was a tall jar. It had two handles on the side and a leather strap keeping the lid shut tight. Given that everything else the titan owned was made from precious metals, it was safe to say the only reason he'd have an ordinary looking jar at his side was that it was special; it was Pandora's Pithos

"Or not," Percy corrected himself. Without thinking, he walked right on up to the throne and picked up the pithos. He turned around to face Jason and grinned. The smile quickly fell from his face.

Just then, the piles of precious objects suddenly began to shift. Two large beasts slow rose from them and faced them. They rose about halfway to the ceiling and looked vaguely humanoid. They had no faces, only a pair of arms and legs. Their skin looked droopy and brown. Wait, not skin — _clay_.

One of the golems stepped toward Jason and tried to bring one of its fists down on top of him. Jason dodged out of the way and sliced it clean off. The glob of clay sank into the ground and disappeared while the golem just regrew its fist.

"Run!" Jason called out. He made straight for the door.

Percy clutched the pithos in his arms and took off toward the exit, but he had to stop when the second golem stepped into his path. It threw a rather slow punch at him that Percy was able to duck beneath. He continued forward and ran between the other golem's legs while easily dodging _its_ attack. He followed Jason out the door and bolted toward Blackjack.

Jason reached Scipio first and nimbly hopped on top of him.

"_What'd you do?_" Blackjack asked in a panic.

"Go!" was all Percy said.

He reached the pegasi and tossed the pithos up to Jason; he barely caught it. Percy mounted Blackjack just as the clay monsters burst out of the building. They advanced with surprising speed.

"_Right! Going!_" said Blackjack.

He and Scipio simultaneously spread their wings and rose into the air. The golems leapt and tried to grab at them but couldn't reach. The pegasi darted through the sky and away from the sanctum, not slowing down until they'd gained a considerable distance.

* * *

The pegasi let them dismount a short ways from Delphi. Percy was pretty sure mortals wouldn't react well to winged horses landing in the middle of the city, so he decided this was safer. Percy carried the pithos with him and the two demigods walked the rest of the way on foot. Blackjack and Scipio flew off without them, promising to answer to a whistle when they needed them next.

Delphi was a quaint little city. Its buildings were small but its people were numerous. The roads were primarily made of dirt and the vegetation was plentiful. The whole place felt so _Greek_, even more so than Cyrene. Even though he still felt like a foreigner to the land, he had this primal feeling of familiarity deep inside him. He had a strange urge to call himself at home.

That said, something was off about the place. Delphi was under Roman control now, but for some reason didn't seem that way. There were many armed men walking around, but none had the appearance of a legionnaire. Citizens were looking over their shoulders more often than could be considered normal. Everyone seemed far too wary of them. Soldiers — or mercenaries, or _whatever_ they were — held onto the hilts of their swords as they walked by. No one would look them in the eyes, but everyone was watching them as if they'd try to steal something or kill someone. There was definitely something going on behind the scenes here; Percy wished he knew what.

He didn't have time to ponder it though, because they reached the Temple of Apollo sooner than expected. It looked like any other famous Greek building. It was built primarily out of limestone bricks complemented by marble pillars. It had a triangular roof adorned with swan statues on each corner and a carving on the front depicting an archer surrounded by nine women — Apollo and the nine Muses. The walls had a few cracks here and there in the intricate designs, but overall it looked to be in good condition.

A man exited the temple. He was bulky, long-haired, and had a greatsword sheathed at his back. He wore a bronze breastplate that left his muscular arms bare. His face was clean-shaven with a crooked nose. His eyes roved over everything as if he owned it, before landing on Percy and Jason. He gave a brief glare in their direction and then marched away. A smaller man whose face was hidden by a helmet stepped out after him. He stared in their direction for no more than five seconds before following the larger man.

Percy took a few steps forward but stopped when he realized Jason wasn't following him.

"You coming?" he asked.

The son of Jupiter shook himself out of whatever thought he was having and continued forward. "Sorry. That man just looked kind of familiar. I can't put my finger on it, though."

Percy shrugged. "I'm sure it's nothing."

"Yeah, probably."

They stepped up to the Temple of Apollo. On either side of the door was a metal bowl supported by three legs, inside of which were a few miscellaneous offerings — flowers, food scraps, coins, etc. Percy ignored them and entered the building.

Sitting directly across from them on a metal stool was an older woman wearing a silk dress and no shoes. She had curly ginger hair which looked to be in the process of turning grey. She bore enough wrinkles on her face that she couldn't be considered young, but she wasn't elderly either. Her eyes were a dark green and seemed to be looking straight through him.

"I've been expecting you, heroes," she told them.

Percy approached her. "Are you the Pythia?"

She didn't respond. Just then he heard movement behind him. Before he could react, he was struck in the head by something heavy and he fell to the floor. Pandora's pithos hit the ground with a thud and rolled away. He took the lack of a shattering sound to mean it was undamaged. He looked up in a daze to see who'd attacked him just in time to watch a brick come for his face. Then he blacked out.


	32. XXXI

Percy woke in a daze. His ears were ringing. He had to blink half a dozen times before his eyes adjusted to the light and his head was throbbing in two different places. He was sitting in a chair, he could tell that much. He tried to stand up but found his wrists and feet unable to move — he was tied up.

He turned his head to look around, and quickly found that to be a mistake. He was blinded by a wave of dizziness and let out an involuntary groan at the pain. He gave it a minute before he attempted to observe his surroundings again. The ringing lessened and he could hear voices behind him, but the room was still spinning.

Slowly, he looked around and recognized the interior of the Temple of Apollo — at least as well as he could, having only gotten a few seconds to take a look at it before being attacked. Sitting on her three-legged stool at the back of the building was the Oracle. She was staring right at him with sorrowful eyes. Pandora's Pithos stood next to her, thankfully unopened. Percy struggled with his binds again to no avail, but it seemed that that was enough to alert whoever was behind him.

Two armed men appeared before him. They were both pretty muscled and wearing revealing clothing in order to show it off. The larger of the two had a shortsword strapped to each hip and the smaller one had a full warhammer on his back. Both looked malicious, but neither had the face that gave off the immediate impression of intelligence.

"One of them's awake," said Warhammer.

"I can see that," Shortswords replied curtly.

Upon hearing "one of them" Percy remembered Jason. He looked around in a panic. His injured head protested but he saw his friend tied up in a chair next to him, completely motionless. He had to concentrate, but he was able to see his chest rise and fall as he breathed, meaning he was only unconscious.

Once he knew Jason was relatively safe, he looked to his captors. "Who are you?"

Warhammer laughed, for some reason. Shortswords, who didn't seem all that fond of his partner, gave him a cold look before responding. "_We're_ the one asking questions. Who are _you,_ demigods, and why did you come to Delphi?"

Percy's eyes widened. They knew they were demigods? He started to wonder how, but then he his eyes found the Oracle again. He didn't really know how her powers worked, but figured she was the most likely one to have told them.

"Well we came to learn about our futures, obviously," Percy lied.

"Mhmm," Warhammer said thoughtfully.

"Then what's with the jar?" Shortswords asked.

Percy thought for a moment. "Just a family heirloom. We thought she might take it as payment."

They seemed to accept that answer, but one glance at the Oracle told him she knew what it actually was. For some reason though, she kept her mouth shut instead of telling them.

"Well a dusty old jar isn't going to cut it," Warhammer said flatly. "You want to consult her, you need to pay in coin."

"How much?" Percy asked. He just needed to keep them talking until he figured out a way to get out of this. Plus, there was no way he could fight in his state. If he could wait until Jason woke up, their chances of not dying would be a lot better.

"Hundred drachmas," Warhammer answered.

Shortswords elbowed him. "_Two_ hundred."

Warhammer coughed and scratched his head sheepishly. "Uh, right. That's what I meant."

Shortswords put his palm to his forehead and sighed.

"That's absurd!" Percy protested.

"Is it?" Shortswords countered. "There's only one woman in the entire world who can do what she can. Her services are very valuable. Titan's being generous only asking a hundr — I mean two hundred drachmas."

Percy had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Well you've got a point there. But who's Titan?"

"The boss," Warhammer answered.

"Of what?"

"Delphi, you idiot," said Shortswords. "And the entire guild. Are you daft?"

"I'm not from around here."

"Clearly. And what about him?" He pointed at Jason.

"He's my brother." Percy surprised himself with that. The words just came out of his mouth without him even thinking.

"But where's he from?" Warhammer asked stupidly.

Shortswords just stared at him incredulously. "The same place, you imbecile — not here. They're brothers."

"They don't look the same," Warhammer commented.

Shortswords hit himself in the forehead again and then ignored his comrade.

"What does that matter?" Percy asked.

They both opened their mouths to respond but just then a soft _bang!_ could be heard. Percy heard a sword being drawn behind him. The two thugs took their own weapons into hand, calling out "Halt!" and "Give me that!" while they ran to engage the intruder. Percy tried to look at what was going on but couldn't turn his head far enough. The sound of fighting ensued for all of ten seconds. Two thumping sounds told him that his captors had been defeated.

"Who's there?" Percy called over his shoulder, fighting against his binds all the while.

Footsteps approached and then he heard a woman's voice whisper to him — a voice that made him freeze up completely. "Stop struggling."

A knife severed the ropes that held him to the chair and Percy cautiously stood up. He turned around and saw a black-haired woman freeing Jason from his own binds, who still hadn't woken up yet. Finally she looked up at him and smiled.

Reyna was missing her legatus's armor and purple cape. She wasn't even dressed like she usually was on off days. She wore rather simple clothing in lieu of her regular tailored garbs, relying on a full set of leather armor to hide most of her skin. Her arms were left bare except for shoulder pads and bracers. She wore leather boots that extended up to her knees where it met the hem of a leather skirt. Her torso was covered by a fitting leather breastplate and her hair was tied back in its usual braid. She looked just as beautiful as ever.

There were a lot of questions he should have been asking right then. How was she here? How had she found them? Why wasn't she back at Rome, being the best legatus their legion had ever seen? Was she going to join them on the quest? But he didn't ask any of those; he didn't care about them just yet. All that mattered to him was that she was standing right in front of him, and probably just saved their lives.

Instead of asking her how she happened to wind up in the same place as him right when he needed her, he just kissed her. Or at least, he tried to. When he took a step toward her, he was struck with a pang of dizziness that made him lose balance. He stumbled forward and might've hit the floor had she not caught him.

"Hey!" she said. "Careful now. None of that."

With her hands on his shoulders holding him upright, he felt more stable. Then an unnatural surge of energy rushed through him. The pain in his head lessened and the room stopped spinning. The ground felt more solid and he was able to stand on his own now. She slowly lowered her hands, ready to catch him if he fell again; he didn't.

"Thanks," he said, remembering the ability she'd told him about after his fight with Luke.

She responded by kissing him, and he readily wrapped his arms around her and kissed back. Relatively speaking, they hadn't been apart for that long. But he'd still missed her — up until just then he hadn't realized exactly how much. He'd missed kissing her, making love with her, looking at her, and just being _near_ her. He felt like he deserved a medal for having given up all of that to go on this quest.

"Gods, I love you," he told her after separating their lips.

Her eyes sparkled. She looked just as ready as he was to kiss again, but then Jason's groaning pulled them to their senses. Reyna stepped around to face him while Percy's eyes warily settled on the Oracle. She continued just sitting there, playing the role of the silent observer with her hand on the Pithos. He decided she wasn't a threat at the moment and resolved to deal with her later.

He looked to Jason just as he opened his eyes. He had a bump on his forehead and Percy realized he probably had a matching one. He looked up at the two of them groggily and Percy could see the confusion in his eyes as he saw Reyna.

"I'm dreaming," he muttered.

"No," she said. "You're awake. How do you feel?"

Percy heard a bit of tension in her voice as she spoke to the son of Jupiter. He almost asked her about it, but decided it wasn't important at the moment. What _was _important was figuring out the hundred new mysteries he was suddenly plagued with.

"Awful," Jason answered.

Reyna put her hand on the back of his. His pain visibly lessened.

"Can you do that with two people at once?" Percy asked her. "The lending strength thing?"

"Yes," she replied. "Not for as long though."

"How are you here?" said Jason.

"We'll discuss it later," she replied shortly. "Right now we need to get somewhere safe so you two can rest."

Jason looked at her with guilty eyes and said, "Reyna I'm sorry for —"

"Later."

He looked like he wanted to press the subject further, but kept quiet. He stood up and furrowed his brow at the unconscious grunts but didn't comment. He looked to Percy as if he'd have answers but he shrugged; he knew just as little as he did.

"Let's go," Reyna said.

"No," said Percy. "Not yet. I need answers first."

She hesitated. "Percy, we can —"

"Not from you." He motioned his head toward the end of the room where an older woman still sat silently on her stool. "Her."

She looked at him for a few seconds before nodding. "Fine, but make it quick. I don't want you two walking around after I run out of strength to give. You look like you've suffered head trauma."

"You're not wrong." Percy turned away from her and approached the Oracle.

She tensed up as if she expected him to attack her but he stopped several steps from where she sat. He couldn't help but notice the desperate look in her eyes. It was so sincere that the anger he had for her almost lessened, but he couldn't get over the fact that she'd led them into an ambush. Still, she'd had plenty of opportunities to run or call for more men to come attack them and hadn't. Perhaps she wasn't all bad.

"You are the Pythia, yes?" he said to her.

She nodded.

"Explain yourself."

"They have my daughter," she told them. "I had no choice."

"I thought oracles couldn't have kids," said Jason.

"Rachel was already three years old when Apollo passed the gift on to me."

"You've met him?" said Percy.

"Not in person. He was just a voice in my head that spoke to me numerous times leading up to the previous Oracle's passing."

"What did he say?"

"A lot of things. He just wanted to help lead me here to accept my destiny."

"You know about what happened though, right? Apollo and the rest of the gods are asleep now."

"I do."

Reyna cleared her throat and made a gesture with her hand for him to get on with it.

Percy glanced at her. "Right. Who were those men and why did they attack us?"

"They were a couple of Titan's goons. When I had a vision of two demigods visiting this temple, he was very interested in interrogating you. They were supposed to send for him once you were both awake."

"Why did you tell them?" Jason asked. "We could have helped you."

"They have my daughter," she repeated. "Any little act of defiance could end her life. I'm fearful enough just talking to you."

"We won't let them kill your daughter," Percy promised. "Just tell us. Who _is_ this 'Titan'?"

"It's like they said — he's the boss. He's not an actual titan, if you were wondering; it's just a name. Shortly after the war he moved in and took control of Delphi and has held onto it ever since. He demands exorbitant taxes from its citizens which he uses to pay his army of mercenaries so he can keep them in line. On top of that, he runs a whole organization of thieves and cutthroats that he sends to cities like Athens and Sparta to work in the shadows, bringing him even more profit. He also has a couple of crews of pirates out sailing around the Mare Nostrum, bullying and plundering any ships they can get out of sight of Rome's fleet."

"How can he get away with this?" Reyna asked. She had a single bead of sweat on her forehead now. "Rome would never let this go on under their watch."

"They would," the Pythia disagreed. "Titan pays this region's legion enough."

"What kind of legatus accepts bribes?" Reyna was clearly offended.

"Do you know who he is?" Percy asked her.

"No, which is saying something. He's a legatus, but if he was important I'd know his name."

"From what I heard he's nobody," the Pythia inserted. "He orders his troops around to keep the peace, but other than that he's rather unremarkable."

Jason gestured around. "He's not doing a very good job of that."

"He should be fired," Reyna agreed.

"Well depending on how you parted ways with Rome, I don't think any of our opinions will hold much weight," Percy said to Reyna. He returned his attention to the Oracle. "But that's not important right now. Hestia told us to bring you the Pithos. Why?"

"You spoke with Hestia?" Reyna said, surprised.

Percy just nodded and waited for the Oracle's answer.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't seen that yet. I could try and scry for the answers you seek, but I won't. Not for free."

"You want us to pay Titan's fee?"

"No! No, of course not. I just want my daughter's safety. Please. You're demigods. If anyone can stand up to Titan, it's you."

"Why should we trust you?" Percy asked coldly.

She seemed to think hard before coming to an idea. She picked up the Pithos and presented it to them. "I told them it was empty to protect it, but rightfully this is yours."

Percy cautiously accepted it. "We were supposed to give this to you."

She shook her head. "I don't believe so. The spirit of hope, Elpis, is all that remains in there. A mortal should not possess her. But you three, you're strong. If you can take down Titan, you'd be giving hope to all of Delphi."

Percy contemplated silently.

"What would we have to do?" Jason asked. "Just find this guy and kill him?"

"That wouldn't be enough," the Pythia replied. "I don't know what would be, but I know someone who can help you. Titan has a son. He visits me every so often to talk and cry. He's a good heart, and more reason to hate his father than most."

Percy sighed. "Where do we find him?"

He wanted to turn her down. He wanted to just intimidate her into telling them what they needed to know so they could be on their way. But beneath the contempt he held for her, he knew she was a victim too. And she was asking them to help more than just her; she was asking them to save an entire city of innocent, oppressed people. He couldn't just turn his back on them.

"He only visits me at night," the Oracle answered, "when his father is asleep. Come back tonight and you might find him."

Percy looked at Reyna. She was sweating even more now, and he was beginning to feel the effects of her revitalization wear off. She gave him a nod and then he met the Oracle's eyes one more time. "We'll do it."

She smiled. "Thank you, heroes. Without Rachel, I have nothing."

Percy extended the pithos back to her. "I need you to keep this safe for me until we defeat Titan. Can you do that?"

She stared at it for a moment, then nodded. She took it and set it down beside her. "I wish you luck."

Reyna gestured toward the door. The three of them stepped over Titan's unconscious goons and left the Temple.

* * *

By the time they got into an inn room, all three of them were pretty worn out. Jason crashed onto the bed while Percy just slumped down onto the floor. Reyna left and came back a few minutes later with a bucket of water. She set it down in front of Percy and then took a seat in a chair. She'd tapped into all her strength to keep them going for that long, but was still far more energized than either of them.

Percy proceeded to dip his entire face into the bucket as soon as she set it down. It was freshwater, which was disappointing. Even if it'd been a bucket of seawater his healing would still be far more diluted than actually going for a dip in the ocean. Still, he'd take what he could get. Water is water, after all, and it was lessening the pain. He felt bad for Jason, though. Perhaps he'd get similar healing capabilities if Scipio dropped him into a cloud or something.

After a couple minutes he raised his head from the bucket, becoming instantly dry, and leaned back against the wall. He rested his wrist on the edge of it and let his fingertips make contact with the water. His head was still killing him, but it was definitely more tolerable now. He looked at Reyna who'd been watching him with an amused smile on her face.

"How are you here?" he finally asked her.

Her smile disappeared. "Shortly after _he_ —" she pointed an accusatory finger at Jason, who pretended to be asleep "— disappeared without so much as leaving a note, my mother showed up in my quarters."

Percy's eyes widened. "Bellona spoke to you again?"

She nodded. "We talked for a bit. She said. . ." She paused. "She left me with a lot to think about. A couple days later, she appeared again and told me you two would wind up ambushed here and would need my help. And I realized that I'm meant for more than being the leader of a mortal army during a time of peace."

Percy stared at her. "So you gave up your position for us?"

"No. Not really. Even if I hadn't needed to come to your aid, I think I would have wound up at the same decision anyway. My mother just helped me get there faster, and I guess you two getting captured did too."

"You're welcome," he muttered.

She smirked. "So after she left, I hung up my cape and armor and resigned from the legion. I took the first boat to Delphi and arrived here just a few days ago."

Percy rubbed his head with his free hand. "You've been here a few days? I'd comment about you not interfering _before_ we got hit in the head, but I'll just be glad you came at all."

"Sorry. I was expecting you to arrive by boat, so I cycled between checking the Temple of Apollo and watching the southern road. Then I heard murmurs of two strangers arriving from the north and found you two already tied up."

"Well Delphi wasn't our first stop. Once we reached Greece — or what used to be, anyway — we went straight for Mount Olympus."

"You went to Mount Olympus? Why?"

"For answers. We went to the city of the gods and. . . I saw my dad, Reyna."

She looked too surprised to say anything.

"We saw the rest of the Olympians, too. They were all asleep, like Chiron said, but it was them."

She took a second to think on that. "Tell me everything. Start from the beginning."

* * *

The next night, Percy was feeling a lot better, Jason only slightly; he hadn't found Percy's idea about dropping him into a cloud amusing. The three of them sat a ways away from the Temple of Apollo, waiting. They'd done as the Oracle had suggested the previous night and come back, but Titan's son hadn't shown up. And now that Reyna was with them, Percy suddenly didn't care so much about getting the mission done as quickly as possible, so he was okay with just coming back each night until they could meet with Titan's son.

Presently Percy and Reyna sat side by side while Jason was far enough away for them to talk in private. Percy's hand had naturally found its way to hers and they just sat there peacefully, enjoying each other's company. It was simple moments like these he'd longed for since leaving Rome.

He looked over to Reyna and caught her staring at him. "What?"

Her cheeks turned pink. "Nothing. I just. . . I really missed you."

He smiled. "Yeah. I missed you too."

There was a pause as her eyes returned to the Temple.

"What else did your mother say to you?" he asked. He'd been meaning to bring up the subject, but hadn't had a good opportunity until now.

She took a second before answering. "Nothing important but. . . I asked her about my sister."

"Hylla?"

She nodded and then looked annoyed. "She wouldn't tell me anything."

"What? Why not?"

"I don't know!" she said frustratedly. She squeezed his hand a little too hard and then loosened her grip once she realized she was doing it. "Sorry. But, after she said she couldn't tell me, I just asked to know if she was even still alive. She wouldn't answer that either."

"What _did_ she tell you?"

"Other than the part about you needing my help? Just normal nonsensical goddess stuff you're not supposed to understand right away."

Percy remembered his conversation with Hestia and when his patron goddess had visited him in his dreams. Then he suddenly realized why Hestia had seemed so familiar to him — because she reminded him of her. For a hot second he considered the idea that Hestia _was_ his patron goddess, and then realized how absurd that was. Hestia was asleep, so she couldn't be her. But. . .

"Vesta," he said aloud.

Reyna looked at him, confused. "What?"

"_She's_ my patron goddess." A warm gust of wind blew over him just then. It wasn't necessary, since he was already certain he was right, but was glad for the confirmation nonetheless.

"How do you know?" Reyna asked.

"There was just this feeling I had when I met Hestia, like I'd met her before. But I couldn't have, because she wasn't awake before we went to Olympus. But who's more alike to Hestia than her Roman counterpart?"

"Hmm. I suppose Vesta would be the most likely candidate. And with what Hestia said about saving both Greek and Roman pantheons at the same time it explains why she'd patron a Greek."

"I really wish goddesses would just _tell_ you stuff rather than acting all mysterious. It's not like it takes a long time to go, 'Oh, yeah. I'm Vesta by the way.'"

Reyna smirked. "It would be nice."

"Hey!" Jason suddenly called over to them. He pointed at the Temple of Apollo.

Percy noticed someone wearing a helmet walking through the entrance. "You think that's him?"

"It could be. Let's check it out."

All three of them instantly stood and walked to it. Once inside, they found the man on his knees in front of the Pythia with his helmet on the ground beside him. He turned upon hearing them enter and stared with startled eyes.

He looked similar to the burly man they'd seen leaving the Temple yesterday. His face was a similar shape, skin of an identical complexion, and his hair the same dark brown. The similarities ended there, though. First of all, he was smaller and had little to no muscles. His face was a tiny bit chubby and decorated with stubble. His eyes were hazel and a lot less menacing whereas the other man's had been dark and threatening. Overall, he looked a lot less hostile.

"You!" he said, his gaze darting between each of them.

"T- _Titus?_" Jason said in shock.

The name rang a bell. Percy looked at the man closer and a memory came to him. Shortly after he joined the legion he was surrounded by legionnaires in the prison building, and this man was one of the ones who'd wanted to kill him. He'd learned after the fact that his name was Titus, and then one day stopped seeing him around the castrum.

Percy stepped forward threateningly. "You tried to kill me."

Titus drew his sword. The three demigods instantly reached for their own but then Titus threw his way off to the side, disarming himself. Percy was surprised at that, but still kept a wary hand on his sword handle.

"_You're_ Titan's son?" said Reyna.

Titus nodded. When he answered, his voice was shaky. "Yes."

"Titus, Titan," Percy said. "A little on the nose, isn't it?"

"Titan's not his real name," the man responded, eyeing Percy's sword warily. "He's Titus I. He changed it to seem more threatening."

The Oracle stood and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I told you you'd have a chance to alleviate your guilt. This is it."

Titus looked up at her, and then back to Percy. He took a deep breath and started talking. "My best friend, Alexi. He was killed by the rebellion. When you showed up in Rome, all I cared about was revenge. I didn't even stop to think if it was possible you were innocent; I just acted. After he —" he pointed at Jason "— stopped us from killing you, I knew I wouldn't get another chance to do it. Being in the castrum without him was hard enough, but seeing you walk free was just too much. I deserted and came here to my father, because it was the only place I could think to go.

"A while later, word got around about everything that happened. The rebels slaughtering themselves and then you taking down the rest of them. It was then that I knew I was wrong about you. So I'm sorry for what I did. And thank you, for bringing justice to Alexi's killer."

A silence followed. The air was tense as everyone waited to see what Percy would do. Finally, after taking some time to process all of that, he spoke up. "Did you rehearse all that?"

Titus's eyes widened. Whatever response he'd been expecting, it wasn't that. Before he could say anything, Percy let go of his sword handle and walked up to the kneeling deserter. He offered him his hand, and then pulled him to his feet when he gingerly accepted it.

"You wouldn't have been able to kill me," he told him. "I definitely would have been punished for knocking you all out, though, maybe executed if I decided not to flee."

"I'm sor —"

"Stop. Lots of people have tried to kill me, and you had a better reason than most. But if you really want my forgiveness, then you'll help us take down your father. The Pythia said you hated him."

His face showed surprise, then he nodded vigorously. "I do. You really mean to kill him?"

"I never said kill."

The Pythia suddenly cleared her throat. Titus turned around to look at her.

"Not here," she said. "Discuss these things anywhere but here. They're already suspicious enough after your escape."

"She's right," said Reyna. "We should go somewhere private to talk."

"Outside the city," Titus offered. "Plenty of places out there to speak unbothered."

"We have an inn room," Jason told him.

Titus shook his head. "My father has ordered his men to get the entire city on alert for you. Staying at an inn once was risky enough, but showing your faces there a second time would be just asking to get recaptured. We'll leave two at a time. When you exit the Temple, go left and stick to the shadows. We'll meet up down the road."

Percy looked to Reyna, and she shrugged.

"Sounds good," said Jason. "You and I will go out first. Percy and Reyna can follow after."

Titus nodded. Without wasting any more time, he picked up his helmet and went straight for the exit. Jason followed behind him and they left. Reyna walked over and picked up the sword Titus left behind.

Percy faced the Oracle once more. "Do you really believe we can trust him?"

"I do," she replied. "Wholeheartedly."

* * *

The four of them met up as planned without attracting any attention. They were a few minutes away from the nearest building and about fifty paces from the road. They'd found a secluded little spot within the trees and sat down. After everyone had gotten comfortable, all eyes were on Titus.

"Start talking," Percy said to him.

He took a moment to respond. "If we want to take down my father's operation we'll have to —"

"No," Percy interrupted. "We'll get to that. First, I want to know about you."

He looked confused. "What about me?"

"Just tell me your story. Make it abridged, if you want. But I want to know how your father was some kind of kingpin out here in Delphi while you served as a legionnaire in Rome."

"Optio," Jason corrected.

Percy looked at him. "What?"

"Titus was an optio."

"Oh. Well, whatever." Percy turned back to Titus. "I want to know all of that and why you'd want to help us take down your father."

Titus looked to Jason and then Reyna as if either of them would object. When they didn't, he took a second to steel himself before he began his story. "I wasn't supposed to be Titus II. My mother was pregnant once before she had me, but he was stillborn. My father was angry, but decided to 'keep her around to try again', as he put it. Then she had me, and I was supposed to be his heir. I was never much of a fighter, though. I was a disappointment."

He paused. His voice was so bitter that Percy had to wonder how he could stand being back here with the father he seemed to loathe. Titus popped open his canteen and took a sip before continuing.

"After giving up hope on me, he tried again for a _suitable_ heir. But my mother birthed a daughter. I remember how furious he was, but I was too scared and powerless to do anything. So. . . so he —" Titus choked back a sob. "He threw them on a boat and sailed away, then came back without them. When I asked where they were, he told me — explicitly. He was very descriptive about how my baby sister wailed in my mother's arms while she screamed and tried to keep them both afloat. He told me he laughed while he sailed away, leaving them both to drown. He said, word for word. . . 'That whore and her poisoned womb got better than she deserved.'"

He was now furiously wiping tears out of his eyes and struggling to keep his composure. He took a few shaky breaths and opened his mouth to continue talking.

"You don't have to keep going," Percy said. "I'm sorry."

"No," Titus said shakily. "You wanted to know. And I never told any of this to anyone before meeting the Pythia, including Alexi. I want to finish."

Percy didn't like it, but he nodded. He felt guilty having asked him to relive his traumatic life experiences, but it was his choice to continue. If one good thing did come from this, it was that Percy now _really_ wanted to put Titan in his place. He still knew relatively little about the man, but knew enough that he wouldn't be leaving Delphi before Titan faced justice.

"After the boat," said Titus, "my father told me he'd be doubling down on my training, instructing me himself. I was always hopeless with a sword, and my trainers weren't doing much to help me get better. The last thing I wanted was to spend more time with him, so I stole a pouch of drachmas from him and used it to bribe a ship captain. Next thing I knew I was in Rome with nothing and nowhere to go. The legion took me in and I met Alexi on the first day of training. I lied to him and said the reason I was bad was that I'd never held a sword before, because I didn't want to be thrown out for being untrainable. But Alexi helped me get better and did a far better job than my old trainers ever could, although I still wasn't really good.

"We became friends, best friends. Then one day he left with you —" he gestured to Jason and Reyna "— to fight a rebellion, and you came back without him. With my mother and sister dead, he was the last thing I had left to lose. I was tired of losing things, and I wanted vengeance. Jason stopped that, thankfully, but at the time I couldn't bear to watch a rebel walk around freely, so I left.

"I was a deserter, and didn't want to be caught. I could have gone to any other city and never been recognized, but I was never one for taking even the slightest risk. So I came back here. My father was furious with me for leaving in the first place. I remember him hitting me, and then waking up bruised and battered. I don't know why he didn't just finish me off, but when he saw I'd gotten better with a sword and knew how to bark orders, he decided I might not be useless to him after all. And here I've been ever since."

A silence followed the end of his story. The wind rustled the trees and an owl softly hooted somewhere overhead. A cricket was chirping somewhere in the distance. Other than that, it was quiet. Despite none of them having anything to immediately say in response to his story, Titus smiled. Then he let out a chuckle.

"That feels good," he said, still smiling. "Being able to just talk freely and get that off my chest. I'm not sure if I can really trust you guys, but thanks for letting me talk."

"You can," said Reyna. "And about Alexi. What happened to him on my watch is somethi —"

"No," Percy interrupted. "I was in charge of leading that weapons raid. If I'd been there, he wouldn't have died. But I fell for a trap and was sitting in a cell while it happened. If anyone's at fault, it's me."

"But I was the one who had the idea to set the trap," Jason argued. "If I hadn't —"

"Stop!" Titus interceded. "I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, the only person to blame is whichever rebel pu. . . put an arrow in his head. You killed them all, so that's all that matters to me."

"Yeah," Percy said darkly. "I did."

Reyna squeezed his shoulder and he felt better. It was just a minimal amount of physical contact, yet it was able to improve his mood by a surprising amount. Despite that, his heart still felt heavy. Being reminded that you've killed a lot of people you once considered family can do that.

"So," Jason spoke up. "We should talk about Titan."

"Right," Percy said eagerly, glad to be distracted from his thoughts. He looked to Titus. "What can you tell us about him? What'll it take to take him down?"

"He's very powerful," Titus warned. "And I don't just mean in strength and skill. He doesn't look it, but my father was always pretty smart. He set up an organization that would continue to thrive even if he died."

"How?" said Reyna.

"With a hierarchy. He runs Delphi kind of like a legion. You can think of him like a legatus, and I'm sort of like his personal optio — set to be his successor, but don't have all that much power currently. He has five henchmen, though, that he trusts a lot more than me. Think of them like centurions, while one is his primus pilus. If we kill my father, the primus pilus will be able to step forward and take control. If we kill them both, any of the centurions can assume control."

"So we need to take care of all six of them," said Jason.

"Hold on," Percy interjected. "I don't want to kill anyone else."

Everyone stared at him. Titus looked confused while Jason and Reyna seemed to understand him well enough.

"What?" said Titus. "That's the whole point."

"No," Percy argued, "the point was to take down his operation."

"How are we supposed to do that without killing them?"

"I don't know. We can figure something out."

"But —"

Reyna held up her hand to stop him. Percy looked at her and her brow was furrowed, like she was concentrating hard on whatever she was thinking about. Then he looked at Jason.

"I told you I don't want to be that person again," he said to him.

Jason seemed to know what he was referring to. "I know. But. . . I don't think there's another way."

"We'll let the people decide," Reyna announced.

"What?" Percy and Titus said simultaneously.

"We apprehend Titan and his lackeys and present them before the citizens of Delphi," she explained. "They can choose what to do with them."

"They'll kill them," said Titus.

"Then that's their choice," she said heavily.

"There's no choice there. If they don't kill them, they'll definitely find their way back to power. If they attempt to keep them prisoner, they'll convince someone to release them. If they try to turn them in to Rome, they'll just buy their freedom. None of this works without them dying."

"Whatever," Percy said. "They're the ones that suffered under them, they'll get to be the ones to rid the world from them."

"If we do it this way," said Jason, "all of their soldiers will be on us. We'd have to fight them all before the citizens of Delphi got the chance to finish them."

"It'd be a lot easier to just assassinate them all and be done with it," Titus agreed.

"Not soldiers," said Reyna. "Mercenaries. I have an idea."


	33. XXXII

It was a warm day with clear weather. Birds flew above and a gentle breeze filled the air. People were walking about, enjoying the pleasant conditions and going about their business, all the while keeping their eyes to themselves and avoiding interaction with almost everyone. Overall it was a rather nice day, but for the greater good that would have to change.

Percy glanced at the sky as he traversed the backstreets of Delphi, doing his best to avoid suspicion. The sun hadn't even progressed halfway through its daily journey yet. If everything went smoothly, it wouldn't move all that much farther before Titan and his crew were finished for good.

Of course, because the Fates often enjoyed playing their jokes on him, he was guessing things _wouldn't_ go perfectly smoothly. One tiny oversight was about to prove him right.

His target came into view: a decent-sized manor at one of the highest points in Delphi. It was Titan's personal estate. Titus wasn't allowed near it, but had explained how it housed his father, his most trusted henchman, and all the "best" slaves and prostitutes that could be found in the city. He didn't pay any of them, of course, which technically made the prostitutes slaves too. Not that the house's occupants mattered at the moment; he had one objective within those walls and they weren't part of it.

Percy snuck around the back of the building and peeked through the windows. Once he found the one he wanted, he climbed through and looked around to make sure no one was around. Instantly he was assaulted with a rather foul odor that forced him to breathe through his mouth. The only thing he could hear was a lot of cooing. There were six coops within the room, each filled with at least three pigeons. Other than the birds, the only other thing in there was a desk that contained blank papyrus scrolls, string, a quill, and a few inkwells.

Percy went straight for the desk. He grabbed a scroll, scribbled down a message, and signed it, "Titan". He took it and turned to the coops before stopping. At the base of each cage, there were labels presumably indicating locations. The issue was that they were carved in Latin; Percy had still never learned to read Latin.

He cursed himself. Titus had even told him that his family heritage was Roman, not Greek, despite his father ruling over a Greek city. Why hadn't they taken this into account while planning? Now the whole getting the letter sent off before all the fighting and chaos began was off the table. They could always send the letter off _after_ all was said and done, but he felt that was risky. If Titan really was smart he'd have contingencies set in place for when his operation is under attack, which includes shooting down all outgoing homing pigeons. It was safest to get it in the air before anyone suspected anything was off.

No, this could still work. He'd just have to change course. Percy crumpled up the lettered and tossed it to the side before jumping out of the window. He took off at a sprint and maneuvered through the outer edge of the city as quickly as he could. He passed by a few people, who were no doubt suspicious of this, but he'd just have to hope that wouldn't matter.

After several minutes of running, he could see smoke. That meant Reyna had already begun her stage of the plan. That wasn't an issue, though. If she could run fast enough then they could recover this. He just hoped Jason was able to hold out that long.

Percy found Reyna holding a torch up against a wooden watchtower. He noticed a handful of unconscious soldiers lying about in a wide berth of the structure. The wood caught fire and rapidly began to spread. She turned and was about to head to her next target but stopped when she spotted him running toward her.

She knit her brow in confusion. "Percy? What —?"

"No time," he said. He stopped in front of her and leaned forward with his hands on his knees while he tried to catch his breath.

"We're switching jobs."

"What? Percy, you know how important timing was supposed to be here."

"You're teaching me. . . to read Latin after all this," he said, still panting. "How far are you. . . on your part?"

She sighed. "All that's left are the catapults."

"Got it. Now hurry!"

She looked very annoyed with him, but just shoved the torch into his hand and ran off in the direction he'd come from.

Once she was gone, he took several more seconds to catch his breath before proceeding to his next objective. He found a rather large open-air structure right at the edge of Delphi containing half a dozen catapults. They mostly wanted them disabled so that they couldn't be used against the eventual Roman invasion, but they didn't want to risk Titan ordering his men to use them against his own city once he realized the battle was lost. It was safer to just take them out now.

There were a few guards that Percy had to take down, but it was rather trivial. They fell quite quickly and then Percy was alone with the weapons. Using the torch, they were all ablaze within minutes. Now that that was done, he could get to the actually kind-of-tricky bit.

As he progressed through Delphi once more, he was really glad he'd caught Reyna before she finished the sabotage. He could only imagine how much more time would have been wasted otherwise. He'd underestimated how far these men's houses actually were.

Finally, he reached his destination. It was a home not unlike Titan's, only smaller. In it, one of Titan's henchmen should be enjoying his day off, if luck was on his side.

Unfortunately, searching the house proved that it wasn't. He went to the second house, which was rather close, and found that it too was vacant. He stopped and sighed, realizing there was only one place they could be.

As he left the second house and started toward the brothel, he noticed that it was now raining. He heard a lightning bolt somewhere in the city. He got closer to his new destination and could hear the distinct sound of sword fighting off in the distance. He smiled, as that meant Jason's job was going as planned.

Once he reached the house of ill repute, what happened next was rather uneventful. He kicked in all the doors until he found the men that matched Titus's descriptions. Any worries about them being the wrong guys were expunged when he saw they were wearing gold necklaces, even while otherwise completely naked. From the golden chains hung a medallion in the shape of a bleeding fist, which was Titan's symbol that only his trusted henchmen wore; Titus was never given one.

They were supposed to be quite reputable in their melee prowess, which is why Percy had expected a somewhat difficult struggle. But when you're naked and unarmed, there's not really much of a fight to be put up. Percy knocked them both unconscious, found some rope to bind them with and robes to cover them with, then dragged them all the way to the nearest drop off location. There were some mercenaries that tried to stop him, but defeating them wasn't even an issue. During the commotion, he heard a second lightning strike.

As he jogged in the general direction of Titan's house, he felt dirty. He really needed to do something meaningful for Reyna once he got a chance. It wasn't only that he'd just seen other women in rather exposed positions, but also that he'd stolen an extremely easy job from her. He'd also given her minimal time to do the job he shoved on her. It'd be tough for her to make it in time, but he was sure if anyone could do it, it was her.

Now the only thing he had left to do was make it to the storehouse that Reyna will have already taken, acquire a sizeable amount of Titan's funds, and then bribe some mercenaries into letting their employers fall. After that, he could meet up with the others for the final showdown.

* * *

Reyna had specifically volunteered to be the one to write the letter _because_ she could read and write in both languages. Percy had simply brushed her off. "I'm going after the warehouse anyway, so I'll be close by. I can just do it," he'd said. She should have just insisted, but those loveable green eyes of his can just be so persuasive sometimes. She had to accept partial responsibility for this inconvenience, but she'd definitely be scolding him once she got a chance.

It took way too long, but she managed to run all the way to Titan's home. Some people looked her way as she sprinted by, but she ignored them. She slipped out of the public eye and maneuvered around the back of the building. She got close to an open window and heard a lot of bird noises coming from within. She nimbly climbed through it and found herself in an acrid room filled with pigeon coops.

She searched around and spotted a few crumpled up scrolls. The first one she picked up contained a similar message to the one she was about to write. It was written in Greek and she recognized Percy's handwriting — he hadn't even attempted to mimic Titan's.

She shook her head in disappointment. Picking up some of the other discarded letters, she found some were signed, "L.V." and one was signed, "Titan". They were all written in Latin.

_I've found a handful of thieves claiming to work for you in MY city. I thought we had an arrangement. Unless you'd like to meet to discuss a change in our terms, I recommend you send double the agreed-upon sum this month and I'll forgive this breach of contract._

_-L.V_

_We don't have a contract, Velus. The agreement was rather simple. I pay you, you turn a blind eye to my business affairs. If this is too difficult for you to comprehend, then I think the coin due to you would be better spent on more soldiers. Only THEN could we meet to "discuss a change in terms", with a full army at my back._

_-Titan_

She could understand why that one had been discarded instead of sent off. She doubted Titan would still be alive had he went through with that. At least it taught her the name of Rome's third legatus — Velus. Actually, he was technically the second; Reyna doubted her vacated position had been filled yet. Unless they'd just given Lucius Cato the position, gods forbid.

The rest of the letters were a lot friendlier, but didn't reveal all that much. Sometimes Velus would write a thank you letter for a shipment of slaves. Once he gave him a renowned architect capable of upping Delphi's defenses via catapults and watchtowers. A few were just acknowledgments that payment had been received. They were all of a similar nature.

Reyna laid out a blank scroll on the table and grabbed a quill. She dipped it into the inkwell that had been left uncorked and began writing, doing her best to replicate Titan's handwriting. She could have just sent off Titan's discarded letter, but didn't know how long ago it had been written. Odds were that it wouldn't make sense to the legatus if he received it now.

_Velus. My patience has run dry. Our business together has hereby concluded. You shall never see another drachma or denarius from me. I have begun enlisting the aid of more mercenaries and will soon expand my territory. If you're wise, you won't interfere._

_-Titan_

Once she was satisfied with her forged letter, she closed the window and cut a bit of string. She looked around for a second then spotted a bag of grain in the corner of the room. She scooped a handful into her palm and turned toward the coops. Etched into each of them were locations, except for one that only read "Velus". She poured the grain through the top of the cage and the four pigeons inside instantly began happily nibbling at it.

Now that the birds were distracted, she opened the door. The pigeons made no reaction. She carefully tied the scroll around one of their legs and it didn't seem to mind. She let it continue to eat for a minute before finally picking it up. It cooed in protest, but didn't put up much of a fight. She closed the door, walked to the window, and let it down on the sill. The instant she opened it back up, the pigeon took flight and flew away.

Obviously, with Titan and his goons dealt with, the city of Delphi would likely descend into chaos. Without anyone to withhold the law, criminals could run about doing as they wished and the people would live in fear. The hope with the letter was that Velus would be so angry he'd march down immediately to clean up the mess they'd be leaving behind. They just needed it to last unruled long enough for the legion to get there.

With the easy part of her job done, Reyna left Titan's house and ran toward her next objective. She reached a section of the city that was rather devoid of citizens. There were soldiers milling about, as their barracks was close by, but few civilians. She kept her head low and proceeded to a short, windowless building made entirely from stone. It had a large wooden double doorway and four men standing guard in front of it. The one in the middle had the fanciest looking armor, and when she got closer she could see an easily identifiable medallion hanging from his neck.

"Halt!" her target called out to her.

Reyna continued forward. She was less than ten paces from them when they all drew their swords.

"I said halt!" the man with the medallion shouted.

She stopped and stared.

One of the guards licked his lips. "Mmm, are you sure we want her to, sir? Let her get a little closer. We can take turns."

Reyna drew her gladius and pointed it at Titan's henchman, ignoring the guard's comment. "I, Reyna Arellano, antecedent legatus of Rome's primary legion, hereby challenge you to a duel."

All four of them laughed, which wasn't unexpected.

"You want to fight me?" said Medallion. "You're a woman!"

"If you're too afraid to fight me one-on-one," said Reyna, "feel free to let your lackeys assist you."

"Afraid? This is a joke, right?"

She gave her sword a flourish and continued to stare him down. "No."

Medallion looked around for a second as if to see if someone were pulling a prank on him. He didn't seem to find anything, so he waved his men off. "Sheath your swords. I'll put this whore in her place, then you can have your way with her."

The guards did as instructed and then took a step back. Medallion advanced hesitantly. Taking this as him accepting her challenge, Reyna struck. Medallion's eyes widened and he raised his sword to block. She went for another strike and he stepped back out of its reach.

Reyna was persistent in her attacks, hoping to use his surprise to her advantage. Unfortunately, he seemed to stop underestimating her rather quickly. He began giving it his all and matching her ferocity and speed, but his skill didn't quite exceed her own.

The duel lasted only a minute. The man managed to hold his own quite well, which was to be expected from one of Titan's most trusted followers. Eventually, though, she sent his sword flying and knocked him to the ground. He didn't get back up.

She looked to the three mercenaries who were staring at her in awe. They drew their swords and then tossed them at her feet. It began to rain.

"Smart choice," she commented. "Now step aside."

They did so. She walked up to the door but hesitated when she passed by them. She looked right at the one who'd licked his lips at her and then punched him in the face before pulling the doors open. Inside she found quite a bit of valuables.

She heard the first lightning strike.

The storehouse was filled with quite a bit of food, metal, and trunks. Pushing one of the trunks open revealed them to be filled with drachmas and denarii alike. She also found a pile of miscellaneous objects which included a bit of rope. She used this to bind the henchman and leave him inside, finding that the guards had retrieved their weapons and fled.

She was only able to carry two trunks at once, which was fine for the plan. Percy would be here soon to retrieve some more. She left the storehouse with them and closed the doors behind her. She then proceeded toward her last destination before the final confrontation. On the way, she heard another bolt of lightning.

A couple of minutes later, she barged right into a barracks filled with mercenaries and dropped the trunks on the floor. She threw the lids open so everyone could see the coins, which made those who'd drawn their weapons freeze.

"Titan is no longer in control of Delphi," she announced. "Your efforts to prevent this would end very poorly for you. I suggest you take this and stay out of the fight."

She didn't wait to hear what they had to say in response. She turned and left, running toward the meetup location.

* * *

Jason got the fun job. There'd been a bit of an argument with Percy about which of them would be the distraction, but of the two, Jason was louder. Reyna hadn't even been considered, because you can't really expect an oppressed city ruled by slavers, thieves, and sellswords to take a female threat all the seriously. But a muscular man with the power of Jupiter at his fingertips? Him they'd very easily pay attention to.

Jason leisurely strolled into the busiest part of Delphi. The Temple of Apollo was in plain view, not too far off in the distance. He entered into a simple plaza that had a decent amount of soldiers among the civilians, but too few for his liking. He'd have to change that.

He stepped up onto a bench and looked around. A few people threw him curious glances, but most just continued on with their business. A couple of the soldiers were watching him warily to see what he might do. One even looked to recognize him and started approaching with his hands on his two sheathed swords.

"People of Delphi!" Jason announced in the loudest voice he could muster. "Today, Titan's reign of terror comes to an end!"

Everyone stopped to stare at him. All the mercenaries began approaching him and the one who'd recognized him stopped and drew a pair of shortswords.

"Step down from there and come with us," he ordered. "The boss wants to meet you."

Jason drew his own sword. "Yeah, I want to meet him too. You're just going to have to tell him to come here."

The soldier stepped back cautiously but held his weapon at the ready. "Last warning. Drop your sword and come quietly."

Jason casually hopped off the bench and stepped closer to him. He heard more swords being drawn and the scuttling of the crowd backing away to give them a wide berth. Sparks appeared around Jason's eyes and he let a few dance across his fingertips too. The soldier gulped, but surprisingly didn't back down. Jason didn't know whether to call that bravery or stupidity.

"This would be a lot easier if you just went and fetched Titan for me," said Jason.

The mercenary charged. Within seconds he was disarmed and out cold. The rest of the soldiers came for him as well, but were also soundly defeated. A couple managed to get in a few parries, but Jason had practically been born with a sword in his hand; it'd take a lot more to make him break a sweat. One of them even turned and fled, which was good.

Jason looked around at the civilians who were watching him with mixed emotions. Almost all of them were awed. Some looked a tad fearful, others hopeful. A few were scared enough of him to run away. He was about to explain to them that his actions were to _help_ them and their city, but then more soldiers arrived. Either the one that fled had sent them here or the sound of fighting had just carried that far away. Whatever the case, he was happy; he didn't have to drain himself to use his parlor trick just yet.

Jason fought off the newcomers just as easily. He'd attempted to persuade them into laying down their arms, but they'd persisted in attacking him. "Titan's operation is falling with or without your interference," and "Whatever he's paying you, we'll pay more," didn't quite do the trick. He figured they just didn't believe him, which was only bad for them. Soon enough the plaza was littered with unconscious or dazed mercenaries, but not a drop of blood had been spilled.

"I'm only here for Titan!" Jason shouted. "He and his henchmen have ruled over you with an iron fist for too long! Send as many mercs as you want after me! I won't stop until I have him!"

"Then you'll have me," a gruff voice said.

Jason turned and saw the same man who he'd seen walking out of the Temple of Apollo when they first arrived. He resembled Titus, but only if a god had zapped him and gave him the muscles and build of Hercules. If he wasn't Titan, Jason would eat his sword.

Next to him stood someone who was somehow even larger. He had a gold chain from which hung a medallion and a silver ring. He was topless, which revealed a hairy and heavily scarred chest. He could only be Titan's right-hand man, or primus pilus, as Titus had equated him to.

Jason took one step toward them. "Great, then we can get started."

Titan drew a greatsword that probably weighed half as much as Jason. His "primus pilus" drew two one-handed battleaxes. They advanced a couple of threatening steps with deadly looks in their eyes. Footsteps could be heard as twice as many soldiers as Jason had already defeated showed up behind them.

"You should fetch a few more." Jason pointed his sword to the sky and clouds rapidly began forming overhead. "Then you might have a chance."

Titan growled. Jason lowered his sword and rain suddenly started pouring down. A few bystanders retreated inside, but most were too curious to not watch what was about to go down.

"You can still get out of this with your life," said Jason. "I'm going to beat you, but I won't kill you. They will, though." He gestured to the people. "The ones you've hurt and enslaved. Once I reduce you to nothing and put a blade in their hands, they'll kill you. And no one's going to stop them."

"Shut the fuck up." Titan pointed a finger at him.

Instantly, all of his mercenaries charged together as one. Jason sighed and took a stance. He'd been hoping to keep him talking longer, but it seemed the man was rather impatient. He'd just have to hold his own a little bit longer than he'd anticipated.

The battle started off smoothly enough. He managed to take down a few early on, but then they started trying to surround him so he had to go on the defensive to avoid being killed. He played that game fine for a bit, but then Titan and Twinaxes joined the fray themselves. That was when he was put at a real disadvantage.

To say the least, they were _really_ good. Off the top of his head, he could only name one other mortal that matched their skill level, and he had been recently executed. He could maybe take them if it was just the two of them and could _definitely _take them if it was one on one, but he stood no chance against them _and_ their army of mercenaries. He could possibly last for a little bit, but sooner or later he'd slip up and it'd be over.

But they'd planned exactly for this. After all, Jason's main job was to just be a distraction while the others went about completing their tasks relatively unhindered. Defeating Titan and his men on his own wasn't part of the plan. So he graduated to phase two: run.

Jason rolled backward and pointed his sword to the sky. A single bolt of lightning connected with the tip and bounced off to strike the ground between him and his adversaries. The following loud bang and blinding light had little effect on him. He took advantage of this distraction by turning and running down the road that led south. He didn't run too fast, though, because his intention wasn't to lose them. One glance over his shoulder told him that Titan, Twinaxes, and at least some of his mercenaries were on his tail, so all was well.

After a handful of minutes, they neared the city gate. As was predicted, two carriages containing covered cargo were heading their way. Jason smiled, then called down another lightning bolt behind him. While his pursuers were blinded, he took the opportunity to hide behind a building.

He waited for a bit. A few seconds later, he assumed Titan spotted the shipment.

"What is this?" he shouted.

"U-uh, the m-money shipment y-you ordered, sir," a small voice answered.

"I didn't order this!"

"B-but, we received a m-messenger in the night. H-he gave us a scroll with y-your seal."

Hubris is a convenient device that can be used to make one meet their end. Titan deemed a task as menial as stamping wax seals and handing letters off to messengers beneath himself. So he'd given his seal to Titus, whom he treated as little more than an errand boy. This made it quite easy to have half of the wealth contained in his second storehouse — which was located all the way by the docks — transported to the city.

"Stop quivering or I'll have to rethink my decision to put that pendant on your neck!" said Titan.

Jason snuck around so he was as close to the carriages as he could be without being seen. He was able to see a man wearing a familiar medallion sitting in the front carriage — Titan's last henchman. He then rushed out and slashed the harnesses keeping the horses connected to the vehicles as quickly as he could. The horses were startled and ran off, leaving the cargo behind. One even ran straight into Titan, knocking the man-mountain over.

Jason pulled the tarp off of one of the carriages and tossed a trunk at the mercenaries that were now advancing on him. The lid opened and coins spilled out of it, causing them to halt.

"You have two choices," Jason told them. "Fight me, get hurt, and become broke. Or you can take as much money as you want from here and go home. Titan's going to lose, regardless of what you decide."

"Kill him!" Titan ordered while he was getting to his feet.

Only Twinaxes advanced. Jason engaged him, slowly retreating all the while, and then Titan joined in. The mercenaries sheathed their weapons and raided the carriages. The last henchman hopped down from the carriage and also advanced on him.

All was going according to plan. Now Jason just had to lead those three back to the plaza where Reyna and Percy should be waiting for him, and they'd take them down together.

* * *

Being Titan's son did come with some perks. Titus didn't have to worry about anyone crossing him, because everyone in Delphi knew exactly who his father was. He had his own home, even though it was rather small. His meals were more luxurious than they'd been back in Rome. Most importantly, he had enough coin to be considered wealthy.

He didn't care about any of those things, though. He hadn't thought twice about giving it all up to see his father face retribution. Because the downsides of being his son far outweighed the perks.

He hated himself. He had to sit by and watch the horrible things Titan put Delphi's citizens through. He had to train with him until he was bruised and bleeding. Sometimes he even had to deliver orders from his father that he'd much rather not be associated with. Worst of all, he wasn't allowed to show weakness — not even for a moment. That's why he often visited the Pythia at night when his bottled up emotions became too much to bear, because she was the only one he could trust.

Actually, she _was_ the only one he could trust. He was probably crazy to do so, but he trusted Jason, Reyna, and even Percy now too. He didn't fully understand why. Maybe it was because he felt guilty for having tried to kill the Greek demigod and for having decided he hated the other two. Perhaps it was destiny. After all, it seemed like a rather big coincidence for them to show up here where he most needed them. But the Pythia had always told him that his patience would one day be rewarded. He wasn't taking any chances. If he couldn't trust three demigods who wanted to destroy the man who'd terrorized him his entire life, he may as well just kill himself now. At least he'd get to see Alexi again, and his mother and sister.

Presently, Titus stared out a window overlooking the plaza where Jason had begun the distraction. Three men with matching medallions were tied up behind him with a band of mercenaries standing guard. Titus had used all his wealth to hire them. He'd ordered them to gather the defeated henchmen from the designated drop off spots and bring them here. Now he just had to wait for the rest to fall and then Delphi will have been officially liberated, for the most part. The most important part of the plan was Rome marching in and taking control, which likely wouldn't happen for at least another week or two.

"How much longer?" one of the mercenaries asked with a bored voice.

"Shouldn't be long," Titus answered. "Remember that there's more than I already gave you on the line here, so just be patient."

The mercenary scoffed, but didn't say anything else. Money always speaks louder than words, he'd learned.

He continued watching, and then Jason finally showed up with three men chasing him. Titus furrowed his brow. Jason wasn't supposed to come back yet. Percy and Reyna were supposed to have arrived first. Either he'd lost track of time and Jason was early, or the other two were behind schedule.

Jason made his stand in the plaza, one-on-three. His opponents were Titus's father, Epistor, and Phlios. Epistor was Titan's closest friend and Phlios was his newest henchman. All three were intent on killing the lone demigod. He was definitely struggling, and looked to be very exhausted.

A few minutes passed and a lightning bolt struck the ground, which bought Jason some breathing room, but not a lot. He kept getting slower and narrowly avoided losing a limb until Reyna finally joined him. She proved to be helpful, but not enough to win the matchup. The pair of them had to hold out for another five minutes before Percy finally arrived, giving them the advantage they needed.

After that, the battle was basically already won. Phlios fell, then Epistor, and ultimately Titan. Jason dropped to a knee, finally able to take a moment to rest, while Percy and Reyna looked around for more adversaries — there were none.

"Now," said Titus.

His hired help picked up their captives and brought them outside and into the square. They tied up the other three and sat them all together. A few were already stirring but were gagged, so they couldn't say anything.

"Citizens of Delphi!" Percy shouted. His voice seemed to bounce off the raindrops and carry to everyone nearby. "These men have ruled your city for too long! Today they fell, and their soldiers have abandoned them in favor of coin! They've hurt you, and your families, and now they are at your mercy! Do with them as you will. No one will stop you."

As Percy spoke, Titus left the building and approached the bound oppressors. Percy finished his little speech and the three demigods began walking away from the bound rulers. Titus's mercenaries were gathering the weapons of those who'd been defeated and dropping them in front of the crowds. He could already see citizens tentatively taking blades into their hands, but _he_ got first dibs.

"Hey!" Percy jogged up to him and put a hand on his chest, somehow able to tell what he was intending to do. "You don't have to do this."

"Move," Titus said without taking his eyes off of his unconscious father.

"Vengeance isn't what you think it is. You may think it'll taste sweet, but it's bitter. Believe me. It's not worth it."

"I don't care. Move."

The son of Poseidon looked reluctant, but let him go. Titus reached his father. He drew a dagger and closed his eyes. He tried to picture his mother's face, but couldn't even remember what she'd looked like. He could see Alexi's clear as day, though, staring at him with that joyful, goofy grin. He'd never gotten to meet the person who'd taken his life, but he'd settle for the man who ruined his own.

The sad truth was, he didn't feel all that much for his mother and sister. Every time he thought about them, he felt guilty for not mourning them enough. His father had never allowed him to get close to his mother, so he hardly knew her. For as long as he could remember, he'd always been Titan's son, and he'd only seen his mother every night at dinner where she'd keep mostly silent.

And as for his sister? When Titus pictured her, he didn't see the innocent baby that had never gotten the chance to grow up. He pictured a grown woman like Reyna — someone actually capable and worthy in every way he wasn't. He just knew she'd have been someone who outshined him at everything, if his father hadn't been so shortsighted.

He sometimes laughed about those thoughts. It reminded him of how terrible of a person he was. It explained why Alexi had never loved him back. How pathetic did you have to be to be jealous of a dead baby?

Titus raised the knife. For several seconds he hesitated, and then he did the deed. Titan was dead, and Delphi was free. He walked away and left the other five for the people to deal with.


	34. XXXIII

"Why were you late?" Titus asked Percy and Reyna sternly.

Currently, the four of them walked away from the growing crowd of civilians toward the Temple of Apollo. Despite the blunder with the letter, everything had turned out great in the end. Percy still couldn't believe that Reyna had made it there before him, though, with her disadvantage. Perhaps he'd spent more time searching the henchmen's houses than he thought.

"Had to change course," said Percy. "I'm not literate in Latin, so I made Reyna swap jobs with me."

Titus stared at him incredulously. "Did you just say you're not literate in Latin? _Why _didn't you bring that up during planning?"

"I didn't think it mattered." Percy scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "We're in a Greek city."

"Ruled by my _Roman _father, who's in regular contact with a _Roman _legatus. Your failure to mention this could have gotten Jason killed!"

Percy laughed. Titus glared, but he couldn't help it.

"I wouldn't go that far," said Jason.

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "I mean, no offense or anything, but Jason killed? By mortals? We've faced a lot tougher than your father."

"He was faltering by the time you showed up," Titus argued.

"If he thought he was in a fight he couldn't win," said Reyna, "he'd have been able to get out of it before any fatal blows were struck."

"Exactly," said Jason. "We still won, didn't we?"

Titus still looked rather annoyed by the improvisation, but stopped arguing. They continued on toward the Temple of Apollo without talking. Once they reached it, they found that the Oracle was already set to travel. She joined them as they made toward the southern city exit. She listened while they explained how they had executed their plan, but Percy could tell she wasn't really paying attention; she was too excited to see her daughter freed.

It took a couple of hours, but they finally reached the docks at the seaside. It would have gone a lot faster if they'd called in Blackjack and Scipio, but he doubted the two pegasi could carry all five of them. He had to wonder why they built Delphi so far inland.

Titan didn't really believe in keeping prisoners, save for one special instance. Anyone who disobeyed him was put in shackles and sold to whoever was willing to pay for slave labor. That's why he held his prisoners near the docks, so they could be shipped off as soon as he'd acquired enough.

The Oracle's daughter, though, was more valuable to Titan as leverage. He allowed the Pythia to see her twice a year to ensure he kept her loyalty. Percy didn't want to imagine what was done to the girl during the time in between visits.

The group entered into a tiny village, large enough to house a dozen people at most. There were no ships currently docked, but off in the distance, two could be seen sailing away. The village was extremely quiet, as if it'd been abandoned. Not a single person could be seen.

"It looks like they've already caught wind of Titan's defeat," said Reyna.

"It wouldn't surprise me if a handful of mercenaries fled here the second they'd filled their pockets," said the Pythia. Her voice sounded nervous.

Jason looked to Titus. "Where are the cells?"

He pointed to the right edge of the village. "This way."

They followed him along the dirt roads until they reached one of the few buildings there constructed entirely from stone. The Oracle walked right up to it and pushed the door open. Percy quickly followed behind her. There was a sconce on either side of the door, so Percy grabbed one on his way in.

They walked between the cells, Percy using the torch to shine light over each of them. With every empty cell they looked into, Percy grew more and more anxious. He didn't know why, but a horrible feeling settled over him. As they got closer to the end of the building, a buzzing noise grew louder. Eventually, they'd seen every cell but one. Percy looked into it and his breath caught in his throat.

"No!" The Pythia pulled open the cell door, which had been left ajar, and ran through it. "No! Rachel!"

Inside the cell, a woman about Percy's age lay on her back. She looked to be very thin. She had a pale face and frizzy, bright orange hair. Her eyes were wide open, green, and lifeless. She might've been pretty when she was alive.

The Oracle grabbed her and wept, getting blood all over herself. Her daughter's throat had been cut open and flies buzzed around her lifeless figure. She looked to have been dead for at least a couple of days.

None of the other four knew what to say. They could only watch in horrified silence as the Oracle clutched her murdered daughter and sobbed.

* * *

After some grueling labor, they stood behind the grieving woman while she knelt at her daughter's fresh grave. Percy felt guilty. He knew it was irrational to feel that way, but he did. The Oracle believed Titan to have ordered her daughter killed as punishment for him and Jason escaping captivity. That technically made them indirectly responsible for it, even though it was still ridiculous to try and place the blame on themselves, as the Oracle herself had insisted.

After what had to have been at least half an hour, the Pythia stood and turned to them. Her face was tearstained and utterly broken. Her eyes were hollow and she seemed to stare right through them.

"Let's go," she said in a raspy voice that conveyed an unfathomable amount of devastation. "I owe you payment."

"We don't have to do this right now," Reyna said softly.

She looked at her. "I hope you'll never understand, girl, but time will do nothing to mend me."

Reyna didn't have a response to that.

"Let's go," the Oracle repeated.

She turned and headed up the slope toward the Temple of Apollo. The four of them reluctantly followed. Once inside she lit two three-legged braziers that somehow emitted green smoke. She took a seat on her stool and began taking slow, deep breaths. They waited patiently for a couple of minutes. Eventually, she'd been silent so long that Percy opened his mouth to ask if anything was wrong, then the smoke suddenly dissipated and she opened her eyes. Her irises were gone, leaving nothing but white.

She began to tilt forward and Titus rushed to hold her steady. After several more seconds, she blinked and her eyes returned to normal. She waved Titus off and he cautiously let her go. She then looked to the three demigods.

"I saw a goddess," she told them. "A woman with flames in her eyes. She possessed the Pithos."

Percy waited for her to say more, but she didn't. "And?"

"That's all I saw," she said.

"What about the prophecy?"

She shook her head. "I do not give prophecies, not since Apollo fell asleep. My powers are weaker than my predecessor's and my sight clouded. I can only catch glimpses of the future, and no more."

Percy stared in disbelief. They'd come all this way, done all that, and were rewarded with three tiny sentences? Why couldn't Hestia have just said those words to them and saved them the trouble?

He sighed. It was annoying, but he wasn't angry. If they hadn't come here, he might not have been reunited with Reyna. He wouldn't have properly met Titus. And the citizens of Delphi would still be under Titan's tyrannical rule. So calling this trip a waste of time wouldn't even be close to fair, but he still felt that having to go to the Oracle for this information was rather pointless. He wished goddesses could just be clear and direct for once. Sadly he doubted the trend would be breaking any time soon.

"This goddess," said Percy. "Was she Vesta?"

"I do not know," the Oracle answered. "I've told you everything I know for sure. I fulfilled my end of the bargain. Please leave me now."

He didn't like the idea of leaving her to her own devices in the mental state she was in. He was scared to find out what she might do. He almost protested, but then Reyna put her hand on his shoulder. He met her eyes and relented.

He looked to the Oracle one last time. "I'm really sorry we couldn't do more for you."

She didn't reply.

He picked up the Pithos from beside her and left the temple with Reyna at his side. Jason and Titus followed along behind them. The four stopped a handful of paces away from the building, then Titus cleared his throat and they all looked to him.

"I can't pretend to understand what any of that meant," he said. "And I guess I don't really need to. But I suppose this is goodbye."

"What will you do now?" Jason asked.

"Stay here," he answered. "Gather the last of my father's money and do what I can to keep the peace until the legion shows up. Then I'll turn myself in for a deserter."

"Turn yourself in?" said Percy. "Why? You know you'd never be recognized."

"I've made a lot of mistakes. I think. . . it's about time I started paying for them."

There was a short silence.

"Titus, I forgive you for trying to kill me," said Percy. "The past is in the past. But I think you should know — you're allowed to forgive yourself too."

Titus met his eyes, then said sadly, "I know. It doesn't matter."

"Titus —"

"Stop. I've made up my mind."

"You know what they do to deserters," said Jason. "We can't just let you do this."

"I beg that you do."

Percy saw sadness in the man's eyes, but also an unwavering determination. He knew a string of words didn't exist that could convince him to take a different course of action. He wished one did, but he had to give up.

Percy looked toward the Temple of Apollo. "Promise me you'll look after her."

Titus nodded. "Of course. She did the same for me."

Jason still wasn't ready to give up on him, but eventually had to concede that Titus had made his choice. They said their goodbyes to the man and he returned to the Temple of Apollo, both parties knowing they'd likely never see each other again.

Probably not wanting the bitter moment to carry on for too long, Reyna took the lead. They left the city and found the campsite they'd used previously while planning the operation. Percy sat down while Jason used a tiny spark of lightning to ignite the fire.

"You're sure it's Vesta she saw?" said Reyna.

"I mean," said Jason, "Who else could it be? Hestia had fire in her eyes, but she's asleep."

"And she was a little girl," Percy added. "Or at least took the appearance of one. The Pythia said she saw a woman, and when Vesta spoke to me in my sleep she wasn't a child."

"So what do we do then?" Jason asked. "How do we find her?"

"There won't be a need," a new voice said.

Suddenly, sitting across from them on the other side of the fire, was a woman that looked only a few years older than them. Just like Hestia, she had flames in her eyes, but hers were slightly different. Instead of just fluttering about the pupils, the flames covered her entire eyes, including the whites. She wore a hoodless cloak that covered her shoulders and let her dark brown hair fall free down her back. The woman was stunningly beautiful and wore a warm smile that reminded him of his mother's, which surprised him, considering how long it'd been since he'd last seen it. While she did emit an aura of power reminiscent of Hestia's, her appearance more closely resembled her sister Juno's.

"Vesta," said Percy.

"You needn't bow," she said quickly.

Percy, who'd been about to do just that, straightened his posture and tried to play it off casually.

"Family does not bow to one another," said Vesta. Her voice did have the exact same kindly tone that Hestia's had.

"Is that what we are?" Percy asked.

She met his eyes. "You're my champion. There are fewer bonds more familial a maiden goddess can have with a mortal."

"Why me?" he asked. The question had been nagging at him for so long. "Why not Jason? Or Reyna? Why'd you choose me, a Greek?"

"They are valiant heroes indeed, and they have their roles to play," Vesta answered. "But you possess certain qualities that they do not."

"Like what?" He looked at his friends to see their reaction to that, but they were completely motionless. They didn't even seem to have noticed Vesta. "What did you do to them?"

"Nothing permanent. I only wished to have a private conversation with you."

"I'm just going to tell them everything you said anyway. It'd be a lot easier to just let them in on this."

"It would," she agreed.

Percy waited, but his friends remained frozen in time. He sighed. "What qualities were you talking about?"

"They're indefinable, Perseus. They're just the things that make you _you_. The things that told you defecting to Rome was the right thing to do and that made you help the people of this city when you were under no obligation to. They're the reason that your beloved, who is a natural-born leader, often still looks to _you_ for answers."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I always just do what I know I _have_ to. I just try and do what's right. There's nothing special about that. Anyone in my position could do the same."

"And I bet you've also convinced yourself that this quest will be your last."

Percy furrowed his brow. "It is. My entire life I've just been hopping from one fight to the next. I've cleaned up every mess I found myself in thanks to some miracle or another, or you, and this is the last one. Once I get done with this, I just want a chance at a normal life."

"I know you do. And you will have lots of time to spend alone with Reyna, for a spell. But a normal life is not your destiny."

Percy took a moment to reply. "I don't care what you think my destiny is — I'll choose my own."

Her smile widened. "Indeed you will."

He stared at her. "What does _that_ mean?"

"It means you have more control of your life than you realize, and I'm happy you're finally realizing that."

He sat there, perplexed. He looked at Reyna, frozen in place. An image came into his mind, one that he'd seen before but had yet to become reality. He and Reyna sat together in a home, snuggled up next to each other in the warmth of the hearth. They had no weapons on them, and no worries in the world. He could almost see the faces of a couple of dark-haired children, but the image wasn't clear enough. That's what he wanted when all this was done. If he really did have a choice, then he _could_ have it.

"Why did you summon me?" Vesta asked while prodding at the firepit with a metal poker.

"What?" he said.

"You called me here for a reason. What is it?"

"I didn't —" He stopped himself. Even though he _hadn't_ asked her to appear, he realized he was about to. "I have something I'm supposed to give you."

"An offering."

"Uh, sure." He stood and picked up the pithos, which had been sitting right next to him. He walked over to the goddess and presented it to her. "I think Hestia wanted you to have this."

She took it and set it down in front of her. "No. I believe she wanted you to gift this to me."

"What's the difference?"

"There is a great difference. As you're wont to remind me, you're Greek. You placed this in my possession, which can only mean one thing."

She paused. He didn't know whether it was for dramatic effect or if she was waiting for him to butt in with the right answer. Regardless, he just waited for her to continue.

"She wants unity," she said.

"Yeah, she mentioned that," said Percy. "I don't know what it means though."

"No," she agreed. "You don't. And you're not meant to yet."

Percy let out a frustrated sigh. "Why can't things ever just be straight forward? Why can't you just explain it to me for once instead of being all vague and mysterious?"

She chuckled. "Believe it or not, Perseus, but we deities have reasons for the things we do and the information we choose to withhold. You'll know soon enough, but to tell you now would risk a different outcome to your quest — one less predictable."

Percy huffed through his nose. "Fine. Don't tell me. Can you at least tell us what we're supposed to do now?"

"Unity is something that the gods must achieve, not you. But we need our king to agree to it."

"Jupiter?"

She nodded. "It will be a tough sell. I fear the only ones who could convince him are the Fates."

"So go ask them then."

She shook her head. "I'm afraid it's not that simple."

"Why not? Hestia said she was able to make a deal with them."

"The Fates have seen. Long ago they already knew how this crisis that befell the Greek gods would be resolved. They will act when they know it is time to act."

"And when is that?"

"I cannot say for sure. But you three and the Fates are the final players in this game. _You_ must ask them."

"How do we do that? How do you even know it has to be us? Can all gods see the future or something?"

"No. The Oracle can, although it's limited nowadays. The one you've met, she spoke a prophecy shortly after obtaining her powers from the previous one. She doesn't remember it, but the gods do."

"What was it?"

She gave him a solemn look. "I cannot say."

"Why not?"

"It'd be too dangerous for you to know. All that you need to know is that you must go to the Hollow of Prophecy, and the Fates should be waiting to speak with you there."

"'_Should _be?'"

"The Hollow is located midway between Rome and Athens, the two capitals of both peoples' pantheons. Your winged friends should be able to find it. I have to warn you, though. This venture will be dangerous."

"Nothing new, then."

She shook her head and gave him a serious look. "That wasn't a jest. It will be perilous, and more difficult than anything you've ever faced before. You'll need more than just strength to get through."

"What's in there?"

"I don't know. Few mortals have ever even learned of its existence, let alone risked entering it. No god has even dared invade the Fates' territory."

"And you expect _us_ to."

"It is the only way. It has been foretold."

"And what if they're not in there?"

"They will be. This endeavor will be deadly, but not fruitless. Your other option is defying fate and giving up — letting your gods fade and wither away, bringing extinction to their kind. Alternatively, you could fly to Roman Olympus and attempt to convince Jupiter yourself, which would be suicide."

"Fine. I get it. What do we do once we're in there?"

"I'm afraid you'll need to figure that out on your own."

"Is there anything you _can_ tell us?"

"Just be careful. This is the last hurdle in your quest. I believe in you. Even when all is said and done, I'll still be your patron. I may not be able to be with you in the Hollow, but I'll always be watching over you."

She looked into the flames for a moment and turned over a log. She looked contemplative, then she gave a strange look in Jason's direction.

"Juno has never cared about a hero so deeply," she said, "let alone one of her husband's demigods. She does often envy some of the other gods for being able to birth mortal children. He should know that she sees him as more her son than Jupiter's, and that she wished they could have more time together. Please tell him."

"Why can't she tell him herself?"

She looked at him, but didn't answer. Vesta picked up Pandora's Pithos, and then the flames suddenly grew a lot taller. When they returned to normal, she was gone.

"What just happened?" Jason asked.

"Where's the Pithos?" said Reyna.

They were both on their feet, swords in hand, and looking around for any kind of danger.

"Sit down," Percy told them. "Vesta just spoke to me."

* * *

The next morning, they were packed up and ready for travel. Percy had whistled as loudly as he could about a minute ago, and now they were just waiting. He was beginning to worry when two shadows descended upon them. Blackjack and Scipio landed in front of the three demigods and folded their wings back.

"_Greetings, young hero,_" said Scipio. He then looked at Reyna curiously.

"_Hey, Boss,_" said Blackjack. "_Almost thought you'd abandoned us. Who's your pretty friend?_"

"Reyna," Percy answered.

"What?" Reyna had been slowly approaching the pegasi but stopped when he said her name.

"Nothing," said Percy. "I was talking to them."

"Oh." She turned her attention back to the pegasi, Scipio still watching her while Jason stroked his mane.

"_This one is a demigod too,_" he commented.

"She is," said Percy, "and she's coming with us. Can one of you handle two riders?"

"_Not an issue, Boss_," Blackjack volunteered. "_But where are we going?_"

"A place called the Hollow of Prophecy."

"_Never heard of it._"

Percy looked to Scipio.

"_Nor I,_" he said.

"Vesta told me it's halfway between Athens and Rome."

"_Then we have a heading_," said Scipio.

"You can find it?"

"_You can count on us, Boss,_" Blackjack assured.

A few minutes later, they were in the air. Jason rode alone on Scipio while Percy rode Blackjack with Reyna's arms wrapped around his waist and her chin resting on his shoulder.

"This is incredible," she murmured.

Percy smiled. "Yeah. Nothing quite like it."

"I never thought I'd get to see a pegasus in person, let alone ride one."

"You always wanted to?"

"I was always curious. The paintings never left me with the highest of expectations, but they're gorgeous."

"_Your lady has good taste_," said Blackjack.

They continued flying in silence for a bit. The wind was a tad chilly as it rushed past them, but with Reyna holding him he was comfortable. Riding a pegasus really was an amazing feeling, and in his mind the ideal way to travel after sailing.

"If you're not going back to the legion, what do you want to do after we finish this quest?" Percy asked.

She didn't answer for a moment. "I'm not sure. I honestly didn't think much about it. I just knew that. . ."

"Yeah?"

"I knew that I didn't want to be away from you any longer."

Percy grinned. He knew she couldn't see it, but those words made him too happy to not.

"You know I seriously love you, right?" he said.

"So I've been told." He could hear her own smile.

Percy thought for a moment. "What about Hylla? Do you ever think about searching for her?"

"You know I do. Until now it's never been possible to just drop everything and go look for her. I don't even know where I'd start."

"Maybe your mother was just waiting for the right time to tell you. If she's dead, I don't think there'd be any point for secrecy. Bellona probably just wants to reunite you two after all the urgent stuff is done with."

"Yeah. Probably." She didn't sound reassured.

"And hey. If she doesn't, I can try asking Vesta for a nudge in the right direction. We'll find her."

"We?"

"Yeah. I don't know what my life will look like after this quest; I just know I want you in it. I'll go wherever you go."

He felt her hug him tighter.

"So we finish this quest," she said. "We find my sister, all is well. What then?"

"Then we wing it."

"_Where to?_" Blackjack asked.

"What? No. I didn't mean literally," said Percy. "And you're not part of this."

"_Oh. Sorry boss_."

He chuckled and gave the pegasus an affectionate pat.

"I wish I could speak to horses," said Reyna. "What did he say?"

"He said 'where to?' He thought I meant we'd literally be flying somewhere."

"Oh," she said with amusement in her voice. "But what exactly _did_ you mean though?"

"I just meant we'd figure it out as we went. Go with the flow, you know?"

"We'd just wander around without a plan? No purpose?" He could tell from her tone that the idea was foreign to her.

"I mean we'd probably come up with a plan eventually — just not now."

"That makes more sense."

"What about you, though? We find your sister, you have a happy reunion. What do _you_ think we should do then?"

She thought for a moment. "Come up with a plan."

He laughed. They flew on in a content quiet for a while, but then he realized he'd forgotten to factor someone into his future: Jason. The man had become just as significant a part of his life as Reyna; he considered him his best friend. But it's not like he could expect him to just pal around with them wherever they went. He had his own life to live.

He leaned forward and told Blackjack to fly closer to Scipio. The pegasus obliged his request, getting as close as he could without colliding wings.

"Hey, Jason!" Percy called over.

The son of Jupiter turned his head to look at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going to do after all this? You thought about it?" Percy asked loud enough for him to hear.

Jason only took two seconds to answer. "I'm going back to Neapoli."

Percy was completely taken aback.

Reyna must have been equally surprised, because she said, "_Neapoli_? Why?"

Jason shrugged. "It's where I want to be."

"What about the marriage?" Percy asked.

Jason looked to take a second before realizing what he was referring to. "You know why it was dated so far away?"

Percy shook his head.

"Because the ideal bride to my mother and Catreus was barely more than a girl. I convinced them to postpone the wedding until she was old enough to be considered an adult. I thought it'd make me feel better about the arrangement, but I think I knew even then I was never going to marry her."

Percy thought on that for a bit.

"What's waiting for you in Neapoli?" Reyna asked.

Jason smiled. "Hope."

He didn't explain any more than that, and Percy didn't feel it was his place to press the matter. His friend seemed happy, and that was enough information for him. The group proceeded onward, having no more conversations until the pegasi needed to land.


	35. XXXIV

"_Hey, Skippy!_" Blackjack called over. "_I think that's it!_"

Scipio took a second to look before replying. "_I believe you are right._"

Both pegasi simultaneously began their descent. The air began to warm up slightly and the ground loomed closer. Soon enough, they set down at the edge of a particularly dense forest. Outside the woods was a mostly empty stretch of grass and rocks, except there was a large hole in the ground. The pegasi took only a couple of tentative steps toward it before stopping.

"_Don't ask us to go in there, Boss,_" said Blackjack with a nervous voice.

"_We wouldn't say yes if you did,_" said Scipio.

"Wasn't planning on it," Percy assured them.

He dismounted, and Jason and Reyna immediately did the same. They took a few steps closer, then hesitated. An ominous feeling settled over Percy, and he was sure they felt it too. He knew they wouldn't like whatever was waiting for them inside.

"I don't like this," said Jason. "The power — it's palpable."

"What are you talking about?" Reyna asked.

Jason looked at them. "You can't feel it?"

Reyna shook her head.

"Other than a sense of dread?" said Percy. "Nothing."

Jason furrowed his brow. "Strange. I can almost see the power around it."

Percy glanced at Reyna, but she looked just as confused as him.

"_I can feel it as well,_" said Scipio. "_I do not see, but that cave has a powerful aura. I do not recommend going in there._"

"You know we have to," Percy replied.

"_I do,_" Scipio said with a resigned voice.

"You two feel free to leave," Percy told them. "I don't know how long this will take."

"_Just whistle when you need us, Boss,_" said Blackjack.

They spread their wings and flew off, leaving the three demigods behind.

"Let's not delay," Reyna said, taking the lead.

The trio approached the large hole, which they were assuming was the Hollow of Prophecy. It was directly in the ground and about as wide as a castrum. When they got right near the edge they were able to see a slope leading down into a big empty cave, a tunnel at the opposite end of it. Percy didn't see any kind of supports and wondered how it hadn't caved in, but then he remembered magic exists.

"There's no way this isn't it," Jason said helpfully.

"Last chance to have second thoughts," Percy offered.

Neither of them turned away. Percy drew his sword and stepped right up the edge. After some mental back and forth with himself, he stepped forward and slid all the way down the slope to the bottom. Only a couple seconds after his feet touched the floor of the massive cave did Reyna and Jason land on either side of him. The three cautiously advanced together toward the tunnel across from them, but then a noise stopped them in their tracks.

_Click, click, click, click._

It started off slow, but then quickly sped up until it was rapid. The floor slightly rumbled and Percy could feel something working beneath the ground. He looked around, but couldn't see anything. Eventually, the clicking was joined by another strange sound that happened every several seconds.

_Chshhhh. Chshhhh._

Percy decided that waiting for whatever was going on to finish was a bad idea. He was about to make the call to run straight for the tunnel, but then a large section of the ground popped up. A perfectly circular slab of stone flew away revealing another pit beneath the one they were already in. One after another, two large metal hands rose over the edge and planted themselves on either side of the pit. A bronze man then pushed himself out and stood tall, about four times Percy's height. And as if the prospect of fighting a metal giant wasn't frightening enough, panels on its forearms slid open to eject two huge daggers out in front of him, which he caught with surprising dexterity.

It looked very intimidating, and far more complex than the tales about Hephaestus's automatons let on. Even while it was just threateningly standing still, there were parts all over his body that were constantly moving. On his shoulders and under his chin were two pipes that periodically let out bursts of steam with that chshhhh sound. Many gears were spinning at varying speeds across his chest, neck, and between his joints, generating the clicking noise. Across his abdomen, thighs, and upper arms were these strange tubes that pumped up and down, out of sync, on thin rods. Percy doubted even Leo could manage to figure out how this thing works.

The worst part about him was his head. It was the only part of him made out of silver rather than bronze. While its creator hadn't bothered to make the rest of its body match the shape of a human any more than the proportions, its head was sculpted to have the exact shape of a human head, which made it rather off-putting. It looked like one of those marble busts of old Greek emperors you could see in temples and the like. That wasn't even the strangest thing about the head, though. Sprouting from its scalp were dozens of chains that dangled down to his neck like hair. And most intimidating of all, glowing red orbs sat behind fully functioning eyelids that blinked every few seconds. Percy could almost see intelligent thought inside them.

Now, according to the tale, Talos was a name given to a gargantuan automaton that circled Crete. This thing, while huge, was way too small to be the same one. But because he had nothing better to call him, Percy decided to refer to their giant opponent as Talos.

"So, what's the game plan?" Jason asked.

Before either of them could make a suggestion, Talos reacted to the sound of Jason's voice. It instantly drew its arm back and launched a dagger at him. Jason rolled out of the way with perfect reflexes, and the dagger lodged deep into the ground right where he'd been standing, its handle still standing taller than any of them.

Obviously not satisfied, it threw its second dagger and Jason dodged it too. Percy barely got the chance to enjoy the fact that it'd disarmed itself before it suddenly held its arms wide like he was expecting a hug. The daggers flew out of the ground and straight into his open palms.

Realizing there was nothing better to do, Percy charged. Talos swiped at him with one of its daggers and Percy slid beneath it. He returned to his feet and drove the tip of his sword right at its ankle; it bounced off, not even leaving a scratch. The automaton aimed a kick at him that he had to lunge out of the way of. He saw Reyna and Jason had both begun to attack as well, but their weapons were equally ineffective.

For a couple more minutes the trio tried fruitlessly to damage Talos. No matter what they did, he looked just as whole and shiny as when he emerged from the ground. Jason had even stopped once to aim his sword at its head, but nothing happened. There was no flash of light, loud bang, or lightning bolt to the face; perhaps his powers just didn't work underground.

Eventually, once she accepted that their efforts were fruitless, Reyna made a call that they all should have thought of a lot sooner.

"Percy, Jason!" she yelled to them as she jumped out of the reach of one of its daggers. "This isn't working! Just get to the tunnel!"

The two men glanced at each other and nodded in agreement. They dodged beneath two more swipes and ran between Talos's legs. Percy sprinted toward the tunnel and almost made it before he was suddenly tackled to the side by Jason. One of the daggers stabbed into the ground where he'd been a moment from reaching. Percy looked back at Talos in time to see him aiming his other dagger. He and Jason both rolled away and it lodged itself between the two.

As they got to their feet, the daggers flew back to their master's hands. Reyna hacked at its legs, which got its attention. Percy and Jason took the opportunity and ran the rest of the way to the tunnel. They proceeded a little ways into it before stopping and turning around, watching the entrance. Several seconds later, Reyna ran in and joined them. A dagger penetrated at the mouth of the tunnel and then immediately flew back. They heard a loud thud and then the automaton's noises ceased.

"Thanks," Percy said to Jason.

He nodded.

They took a moment to catch their breaths. Percy glanced down the tunnel and saw only darkness. Half of his sword's edge had a slight glow from the celestial bronze while Jason's entire blade glowed dimly, enough to illuminate the path ahead. Percy gestured for him to take the lead, and he did so.

"I hope that wasn't indicative of the rest of what we're going to face in here," Reyna said as they walked.

"I hope it was," Percy disagreed. "More like that and we'll know we can just avoid the fight altogether and run past."

"For some reason, I doubt it'll be that easy," said Jason. "We'll probably end up with a more difficult fight that we can't just skip."

"Why would you go and say that? Do you want to die in here?" Percy scolded lightheartedly.

"Sorry. What I meant to say is, we'll come out of the end of this tunnel and find the Fates waiting for us, amazed that we passed their test so quickly."

"There's that optimism," said Reyna.

They proceeded onward. Percy was fully expecting to walk for several minutes based on the fact that they still couldn't see any sign of the exit, but then something strange happened. He felt himself go extremely dizzy to the point of being blinded for all of a second, and then he was back to normal. The next thing he knew, they were standing back in a bright cavern exactly as big as the last, except the pit and automaton were gone. Instead, the floor in front of them was replaced with a lake that separated them from the tunnel at the far edge, a tunnel that had an entrance identical to the one they'd just entered into.

"We're back at the start?" said Reyna.

Percy turned around and sure enough, there was the exact same slope they'd slid down and the same big opening letting the daylight shine through. They were in the same cave, only it was different. That or they were in a different cave that had replaced the one they'd just left and been teleported — you know what? It's not worth thinking about. All he needed to know was that they needed to press onward.

Percy walked up to the edge of the water and set his hand in it, but he felt nothing. It didn't react to his touch, invigorate him, or do anything at all. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to enforce his will upon it, but nothing happened. He tried again, wanting to get a feel of any dangers that might be lurking beneath, but met the same results.

"It's not working," he said. He stood up and his hand was wet — it hadn't dried instantly like normal.

"Our powers don't work here," said Jason. "I couldn't summon lightning before either."

"Great," Percy muttered. "Well, who's ready for a swim?"

The water was very cold. Even without his control over the water, Percy was still a fast swimmer, but not feeling like the water was working with him was very foreign to him. Once they got across to the other side, he pushed himself up onto land and found himself soaking wet. For the first time in his life, he was uncomfortable because of water. He hated it.

Other than the freezing temperatures, there were zero threats in the lake. Percy couldn't even understand why it was put there, unless Vesta was referring to hypothermia when she said it'd take more than strength to get them through this.

They entered into the new tunnel and experienced the same thing as before. They walked for a bit toward an end they couldn't see before being suddenly transported back to the cave. This time it looked exactly like the first before Talos had removed a large section of the ground. The tunnel sat tauntingly across from them. Percy impatiently started marching toward it again, but then his vision went dark.

He saw nothing and couldn't feel anything. His ears were met with an almost maddening silence. He didn't even get a chance to panic before he could suddenly see again.

He was no longer in the cave, but in the middle of a marketplace. He couldn't feel his body, but he could look around. It didn't take him long to figure out where he was — Cyrene, his birthplace. There were people all over the market, and many looked angry. Several started shoving each other around, then throwing punches. He didn't know what caused the uproar, but soon enough, weapons were drawn. Blood was spilled. Chaos ensued, and then he saw his mother.

He watched her fearfully skirting around the edges of the mob in an attempt to get to safety. She managed it for a bit and got really close to being in the clear. But then her luck ran dry. A stray sword aimed at someone else cut a deep gash in her side. She cried out and collapsed to the ground, blood spilling out like water from a jar. No one came to help her, and she was left to bleed to death.

The scene changed. His mother was gone and so was the marketplace, but once again he was amidst an angry crowd. Ahead of them was a raised dais where several men stood. One wore legatus's armor and a purple cape, but he wasn't Marcus. Behind him, several legionnaires stood guard, ready to move into action at a moment's notice. Standing directly at the forefront with a legionnaire wielding a greatsword standing behind him, was Daedalus.

The legatus announced to the crowd that justice was about to be swiftly wrought upon the villain that sought to undermine Rome's authority.

"I accept my fate," said Daedalus. "You could at least do me the honor of reading me my supposed crimes, Minos."

The legatus looked genuinely confused. "Minos has been dead for centuries, you senile old man. And we haven't got all day to stand here repeating what everyone already knows. Legionnaire, get it over with."

Daedalus was shoved onto his knees and his head was forced onto a wooden block. The legionnaire behind him raised the sword and waited. The crowd egged him on and shouted hateful things about Percy's old mentor.

"After all these years, you finally won," Daedalus muttered. Percy somehow heard him perfectly even from a distance. "Don't think I'm giving up once I meet you down there, Minos."

The sword dropped, and Daedalus's head fell. Percy looked away before it happened, and was surprised to see a young Reyna watching at the back amongst more soldiers, her face bearing a horrified expression.

The scene changed once more. He stood amidst an open field, a castrum standing off in the distance. He saw himself wearing legionnaire's armor, running away from a tent toward a phalanx of Greek demigods that were too far away. Half of them were disarmed and kneeling, the rest looking murderous.

Once it was over, the grass was stained with blood. He'd watched his friends die once again, himself kill Ethan, and the murderers get away with the help of Alabaster's magic. After that, the visions finally ended and he was back in the cave. He collapsed to his knees and shut his eyes, taking a moment after everything he'd just seen.

"Whoah!" said Jason.

Percy turned around and saw that he had caught Reyna and steadied her. She looked just as traumatized as he felt, but Jason looked unperturbed. The son of Jupiter looked between them both with a worried expression, clearly confused.

"What just happened?" he asked.

Percy met Reyna's eyes, and they understood each other. They'd been shown their greatest tragedies, for what reason he didn't yet know. Even before she opened her mouth, he knew what she'd seen.

"I saw my father," she said, her voice shaky. "I saw myself kill him."

"The meeting," Percy replied. "And Daedalus, and my mother."

"I didn't see anything," said Jason.

"Really?" said Percy. "Nothing? Not. . . not Thalia?"

He shook his head, looking equally as perplexed as them.

Percy and Reyna took a second to regain themselves. He'd spent so much time recovering from every one of those deaths. Why did that all have to resurface now? What purpose did it serve? Were the Fates just trying to shake them? Did they want them distracted for the challenges yet to come? If so, why had they spared Jason?

Well, if they were trying to distract him, it wasn't going to work. He'd come too far and lost too much to let those things hinder him this long after he'd let them go. He pushed the thoughts aside and got to his feet. Reyna looked to be on the same page as him.

"Let's press on," she said.

"Are you sure?" Jason asked. "We can take a break for —"

"We can take a break once we're done," Percy interrupted. "The sooner we get through this cave, the sooner we can leave and never come back here."

"Well, alright then," said Jason. He took the lead.

They were able to walk through the cavern to the tunnel once again without any kind of hindrance. A short walk yielded the same results as before, popping them back at the start with a new challenge to face. This time, it took the form of three villains, all of whom should be dead. He knew that because he'd been a direct cause of all three of their deaths.

Luke stood directly opposite him, looking off, but angrier than ever. His scar was gone and his armor looked to be solid gold and styled perfectly Greek. He wore his signature glare and wielded a sword that was — other than the fact that it was golden — identical to the one he'd favored in life.

Standing across from Reyna was the disgraced and publicly executed former legatus, Marcus Lurio II. He held a spear and shield in his hands. Facing Jason was their most recent adversary, Titan, who wielded greatsword. Both men's weapons and armor were also golden.

As Percy stared at Luke, that profound anger that he thought had died with the rebel leader surged up inside of him. He felt an uncontrollable need to drive his sword through his chest again, but for some reason hesitated. The longer he stared at him, the more he realized he wasn't looking at an actual person. He noticed how oddly his skin shimmered in the light, and at points, he could even see straight through him to the wall behind. This was just something else the Hollow had fabricated.

"They're not real," Percy said.

"Could've fooled me," said Jason.

"Well the tunnel's on the other side of them," Reyna pointed out. "Only way to it is through them."

Percy flourished his sword, but the fake Luke showed no reaction. Only when he took his first step forward did Fake Luke take a stance and grip his sword with both hands. Percy charged and when he swung his blade, it connected with Fake Luke's golden one. Any thoughts of him being a ghost that couldn't be touched were now gone.

Soon enough the room was filled with the sound of metal clashing against metal. All three demigods were locked in battle with their respective ghosts. And in all honesty, it was a tough skirmish.

When he'd fought the real Luke, he'd been wearing armor. That greatly reduced the number of weak points that could be aimed for. Luke, of course, had managed to hit one anyway with sheer skill, anger, and probably a bit of luck. Unfortunately, it seemed this apparition shared not only Luke's face, but his skill too.

He didn't know how well Reyna and Jason were doing in their fights but could tell they were having a difficult time based on the fact that he couldn't hear anyone having won yet. He definitely believed he had the worse end of the deal, though, because Luke was by far the strongest opponent of the three. Titan had a lot of skill, for a certainty, but relied more on brute strength, which was his shortcoming. Percy had never properly seen Marcus fight, because the dagger duel in the consul's room didn't really count, but had heard enough to know he wasn't someone to be underestimated. He was battle-hardened and experienced enough to make him very formidable but he was still just a mortal in the end. Luke, on the other hand, was a demigod with many years of training to make him one of the toughest swordsmen Percy had ever seen. Beating him again without borrowing Reyna's strength would be difficult.

Fortunately, however, it proved he didn't have to defeat Luke on his own. Soon enough Reyna had dispatched Fake Marcus and she came to his aid. Once it was two-on-one, the fight became trivial. Fake Luke was disarmed and Percy swiped his sword at him — he vanished into nothing. He then went to help Jason, but he finished off Fake Titan before he could get there. The cavern went silent.

"How many more of these do we have to go through?" Percy asked. He then looked up to the roof and raised his voice. "What's the point of all this?"

The Hollow didn't respond.

Reyna grabbed his hand. "We can't afford to lose our heads."

He met her eyes and his annoyance began to dissipate. "You're right. Let's just keep walking through the tunnel to nowhere, and hope something eventually comes of it."

"Everything here has to have a reason," Jason said. "Eventually the Hollow has to run out of challenges and trials or whatever and we'll find the Fates. Vesta wouldn't have sent us here if it's all pointless."

"It just feels like it's screwing with us just for the sake of screwing with us," said Percy. "I don't know what any of this is supposed to mean. I just want to talk to the Fates and figure out the next step so we can get out of this cursed place."

As soon as he finished talking, something happened. He suddenly felt dizzy and the room started spinning. His eyesight went blurry and it looked like the tunnel split into three for a second. Then he heard the vivid sound of someone getting stabbed repeatedly while screaming for help. Percy didn't hesitate.

"Come on!" he said, not even bothering to see if Jason and Reyna had heard it too.

He ran into the tunnel and the noises stopped. He felt a similar sensation as usual when getting far enough into it, but this time he didn't come out in the normal cave. Instead, he found himself surrounded by tall brick walls lined with torches alight with green flames. Ahead of him was a wall leading in two directions. Looking around, he found that he was alone.

"Reyna?" he yelled out. "Jason?"

No one responded.

"Reyna!" he shouted louder. "Jason!"

Still, he heard nothing. He ran to the end of the path and randomly decided to turn left. When he made the turn, he found another path leading off to the left and a little farther ahead, a couple more branches led right. He was in a maze.

He forged ahead, picking where to go without even thinking. Turn left, go right, straight ahead, reach a dead end, go back, try again. He didn't know where he was going and there was no method to his walking. He just kept going and hoped he'd eventually reach the end.

After several minutes of making progress — he hoped — he decided to call out Reyna's name again. Sadly, he still heard nothing in response. He was about to try Jason's just for the sake of it, but then someone spoke behind him.

"She's not here," said a young man's voice. "She's in her own."

Percy whipped around to face the voice and leveled the tip of his sword at his throat. It took him two seconds to register who he was seeing. Standing in front of him, unflinching at the weapon pointed at him, was his cousin Nico, son of Hades.


	36. XXXV

He didn't look like Luke had, or Marcus or Titan. They'd had an indiscernible quality about them that made it obvious they were just apparitions. Nico, on the other hand, looked completely corporeal and as he had in life, but he wasn't alive.

"You're dead," said Percy. "Luke killed you. Marcus told me."

Nico flinched. "Yeah," he said, his voice and tone sounded exactly like the real Nico's. "I got hurt pretty bad, but Marcus never saw me or Bianca die. I was able to shadow-travel us away. Bianca —" he choked back a sob. "She didn't make it. But the Fates found me before I bled out and healed me. They saved me, Percy. And now I'm here to guide you through the Hollow."

Percy retreated a step back and his eyes widened. "You're. . . really you?"

He nodded. "It's me."

Nico touched the wall and the shadows visibly danced around his fingertips. Percy lowered his sword, but was still skeptical.

"It's not possible," he said. "You died."

Nico rolled his eyes. "You trust the word of a two-timing snake like Marcus over your cousin? Come on, you can see me. I'm really here, Percy."

"But why? Why would the Fates save your life just to put you in this place?"

"To guide you. The maze is —"

"They created it!" Percy yelled, but the irritation wasn't directed at him. "They created the Hollow. There's no point to any of this. There doesn't need to be a maze! Just let us through!"

Nico waited patiently for him to finish. "The Hollow's defenses are lethal to the unworthy, but valuable to the destined."

Percy stared at him. "What does that mean?"

"There is a purpose to this. You may not see it now, but the Hollow isn't trying to fight you off. The Fates want you here because your destiny is prophesied. Not just with this quest, but your life afterward. It's helping you shape yourself for the things to come."

"Even the automaton?"

"Well, that one was just to keep out basic intruders. Everything else is here to help you."

Percy eyed him for a few seconds then decided something. "You're not Nico."

Nico blinked. "Yes I am."

Percy shook his head. "No. You don't talk like him. You don't act like him. Nico really did die, and you're just another one of the Hollow's mirages."

"Astute, but you're wrong. I suppose you don't need to accept that yet for me to guide you, though."

"Where are Reyna and Jason?"

"In other mazes. They'll have their own guides, and will meet us outside. If you'd rather we not dawdle any longer, we might not be late in seeing them."

"Fine. Let's go."

Nico took the lead. He walked back the way Percy had come from and made the same turns before veering off to a new path. For several minutes they walked through the maze without anything interesting happening. Then Nico informed him that they were getting close — that's when the maze turned hostile.

A couple of metal spheres popped out from the walls and sat there for a second. Then, they transformed into human-sized versions of the automaton they'd faced at the start. Percy immediately jumped in to fight them, but unlike their big brother, they weren't much of a challenge. He swiftly destroyed them, while Nico did nothing.

"If you were actually him," Percy said, "you would've fought."

"I'm unarmed," Nico defended. "What would you expect me to do?"

"Anything but just stand there." Percy leaned down and picked up one of the robots' daggers, then handed it to his fake cousin.

The next time they ran into more machines, Nico fought. The real him didn't usually use daggers in combat, as he preferred a sword, but he was proficient enough. His fighting style was so spot on that for just a moment, Percy actually began to doubt how sure he was that this wasn't the real Nico.

But then he returned to sanity. "Nico" had clearly told him the Hollow was screwing with him to shape him into whatever the Fates had decided he was destined to be. He wasn't going to let that happen. After Nico and Bianca went missing, he'd spent so long wanting to know whether they were alive or dead before he finally accepted that they were gone. It had been hard enough to accept it then, but easier to bear than having Marcus confirm that they'd been killed. He wasn't going to convince himself Nico was alive just to have that hope ripped away yet again.

They proceeded onward. They faced some more automatons along the way, which were getting progressively more difficult the farther along they advanced. Eventually, the maze began trying to kill them in other ways. Nico stopped him from tripping over a wire that would have likely activated some deadly mechanism. With his help, they avoided all the traps, defeated the rest of the enemies, and finally reached the exit, except there was still one last obstacle.

They turned a final corner into a long hallway which he could barely see opened out into a cavern — hopefully not the same one as before. The issue was, a large lioness lay directly in their path, except she had the head of a woman that eyed them hungrily.

Percy held his sword at the ready and approached cautiously behind Nico. As soon as they were in range, she opened her mouth and spoke.

"What is the creature that walks on four legs in the —?" she started.

"Man," Percy interrupted.

Her eyes narrowed. "You didn't even let me finish."

"I already heard it before. The answer is 'man'."

"Then how about a different riddle?" she said in a deadly tone.

"Oh, no, you don't have to —"

"What is a creature so impatient and selfish that he ruins the first job a sphinx has gotten in over four hundred years?"

"Er, is it me?"

She growled.

Percy took a step back.

"Yes," she said with gritted teeth. "It is you. You may pass, you cruel, awful boy."

With that, she literally melted in the ground and the way was clear. Nico turned and gave him an incredulous look. Percy just shrugged.

"Annabeth told me the story," he said. "That was the same riddle a sphinx asked Oedipus. Annabeth once said how she'd like to meet one so she could solve a new riddle, and I told her she was crazy."

"That does sound like her," said Nico.

They walked the rest of the way and they reached the cave exit. Percy turned to face Nico, and his form flickered. For a fraction of a second, he looked like a faceless mannequin. Nico gave him a sideways, guilty smile.

Percy cursed himself. He'd _known_ he wasn't real. He knew there was no way that this was the real Nico. _Why_ had he subconsciously allowed himself to hope that that wasn't the case? A large part of him wanted it to be him, but a tiny part had actually believed it might be a possibility. For the third time, he felt like he'd lost him.

Percy turned his back on him and the maze and tried to bury those thoughts. This wasn't the time for this. There'd be plenty of time to let his grief resurface later. Right now, he needed to find Reyna and Jason.

He hadn't even finished that thought before the two demigods in question literally walked out of thin air. All three of them looked at each other, startled. Once the surprise factor wore off, it became clear that everyone had seen something equally distressing.

"So you both went through a maze too?" Percy said.

Jason gave a short nod. Percy couldn't read his expression.

Reyna also nodded, but looked crestfallen. Percy supposed if neither of them was ready to share just yet, then he'd hold off for now too. It was probably better that they just press on, anyway.

Percy did a full look around the cave and realized it really was a different one than the previous. It was a lot smaller and differently shaped, but didn't let in any sunlight. Instead, lanterns hung from the ceiling on chains which gloomily lit the entire area. Behind them was the exit from the maze. Ahead was a new tunnel, taller than the other, that also simply faded into darkness.

"Ever forward," said Jason. He took the lead.

They entered the new tunnel and after a bit of walking were transported back to the cave they'd just left. Surrounding them were seven grey ghosts. They looked like people, but had no defining characteristics other than the weapons they used and having the shape of either a man or a woman. The second the three demigods appeared, all of the apparitions attacked at once.

This was the toughest challenge yet. As Percy had suspected, the ghosts weren't intangible and were fully capable of making physical contact with them. They had them outnumbered seven to three and seemed to be perfectly designed to exploit their weaknesses. The demigods each took two at once while the extra prowled around near Jason, not yet attacking. That one worried Percy, but there was nothing he could do to get at him with two more ghosts relentlessly attempting to murder him.

It took some time and a bit of luck, but Percy managed to slice through one of his foes' heads. The apparition vanished instantly, which left him in a one-on-one. At that point, it became easier for his skill to take him to victory, but he still had a tough time of it. Soon enough, though, he took that one down too. He turned toward his friends and only needed a second to decide which one needed his help. Reyna was down to one while Jason was still fighting two, plus the third that was just watching him.

He made his decision and stepped in to help Jason, but was a second too late. The son of Jupiter did a rather impressive trick with his sword where he parried two simultaneous attacks and pushed one back, but in that instant, the spare apparition surprised him and cut into his left arm. He instantly cried out in pain and stumbled back a few steps, blood quickly beginning to leak from the wound.

Percy stepped in and got the three ghosts' attention. He fought with a renewed vigor and sense of anger, but even with his injured friend's help, he had to go on the back foot. For over a minute, it was all they could do to avoid either of them getting hit again, but then Reyna finished off her last enemy and jumped in to help. She managed to surprise the ghosts and immediately take one out, and then it was three to two in their favor. Even then it still took longer than you'd expect for them to finish off the last two.

As soon as the final one had dissipated into nothingness, Percy pulled out his dagger and cut away a long strip of fabric from his tunic, which left his midriff bare. Reyna had already forced Jason to sit down by the time he finished. He knelt beside him and wrapped up the wound as tightly as he could.

"Thanks," Jason said, clearly in pain; the cut had been pretty deep.

He started to try and get up, but Reyna held him down.

"We're taking a couple of minutes to rest," she said sternly.

Jason sighed and reluctantly laid back. He used his healthy arm as a pillow and looked over at Percy.

"You see why we Romans like to wear bulky armor?" he said lightheartedly.

Percy chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I still prefer to fight without it."

After a few minutes, Reyna allowed Jason to stand up. Percy had told them about seeing Nico, and then Reyna defeatedly said that her guide had been Hylla. She seemed to think that all but confirmed her death, but then Jason told them that Piper had guided him through his maze. He wouldn't tell them why, but he was so sure she was still alive that Reyna's spirits lifted. Percy could tell she still didn't like the implications of seeing her sister in here, though, and in all honesty, neither did he — he wasn't about to say that out loud, though.

They continued onward and through the tunnel again. This time, when they reappeared in the cave, they were surrounded by a couple dozen walking corpses. They were people but with rotting flesh, exposed bones, and comically slow movement. They weren't even a challenge. They were so slow and useless that a single slice of celestial bronze was enough to put them down for good. Of course, when Reyna hurt them with her regular, mortal-forged sword, they seemed unbothered by the damage inflicted upon them. Even with only Jason and Percy able to damage the undead, it took less than two minutes to finish them all off. Afterward, they hastily went for the tunnel again as the stench was quite atrocious.

As they proceeded onward, the Hollow still made zero sense and had a complete lack of obvious rhyme or reason. The next two times they went through the tunnel, the cave had been completely empty and they were able to just go right on through unhindered. After that, they fought more undead and then found the cave empty again. This time, though, Reyna noticed something.

They were making their way to the tunnel again when she suddenly stopped and pointed at the wall. "Hey. Do you see this?"

Percy followed her finger and saw something carved into the stone. The three of them walked up to it to examine it more closely. A line of characters about the length of his arm was etched there. Percy recognized a handful of Greek letters like theta, sigma, omega, etc. as well as some Latin letters. There were more symbols he thought might be Egyptian and then the rest he didn't recognize at all. Needless to say, he couldn't make sense of it. Judging by his friends' confused expressions, neither could they.

Percy took a step back and saw another disparate line of letters from various alphabets nearby. He pointed it out, and then they all looked around for a minute and found several more scattered across the cavern. Percy was positive they hadn't been there when they first left the maze. His guess was that more and more kept appearing the further they progressed.

After some fruitless thinking about what any of it could mean, they gave up and pressed forward. Next, they fought some more miniature versions of the automaton from the entrance. After that, they faced another batch of ghosts. No one got hurt this time as there were only four of the apparitions, so they were able to swiftly claim victory and continue on their way.

Three more trips through the tunnel and they finally reached what looked to be the end. They faced more challenges each time. The first two involved combat and the last one had a singular, unarmed ghost. Instead of fighting him, one of them had to sit down and play him in a game of Petteia — a popular board game around Greece that only Reyna knew the rules to. It took a bit of time, but her knack for strategy netted her a singular victory, after which the ghost vanished and they moved on.

Percy couldn't help but notice how sullen Jason had been acting since the maze. Even when they took a moment to comment on the obstacle they'd just overcome, he'd been unusually quiet. Reyna seemed to notice too and when she asked if something was off, he just set his jaw and faked a more cheery expression before telling her he couldn't be better.

Going through the tunnel the final time brought them back to the cave once more. The walls were now covered with indecipherable writings. Standing opposite them, instead of the tunnel entrance, was a strange altar. It looked kind of like a wall fountain in its design but didn't have any water, and it was sculpted directly into the stone. A small bowl was held up by three intricately carved hands that stuck out from the base of the wall.

Above it was a sculpted mural depicting three old ladies working a thread. One spun fibers to form the thread, the other measured it, and the third was in the process of snipping it with a pair of shears.

"It's us," said Reyna.

Percy looked at her strangely.

"Our parents, I mean," she tried to clarify.

"I don't remember having the Fates as my parents," said Jason.

She furrowed her brow. "What? No, there."

She pointed inside the bowl. Percy hadn't noticed it before, but there were three symbols etched into it: an eagle, a trident, and a crossed sword and torch.

"Oh," said Percy.

"Jupiter, Poseidon, and Bellona," Jason murmured.

One thing was made clear — they definitely _were _meant to have come here. One thing was still very uncertain, however — what were they supposed to do now? Clearly, something was meant to go in the bowl, but they had no way of knowing what.

It took some thorough examination, but Percy finally noticed that the text directly above the altar wasn't complete gibberish. Amongst the random assortment of letters from diverse languages was a single word written entirely in Greek.

"Blood," Percy read out. He pointed so the others could see it.

"It wants blood?" said Jason.

"Looks like it."

Jason stared at the word for a second longer before beginning to unwrap his wounded arm.

"What are you doing?" Reyna said, alarmed.

"Giving it blood," he replied. "I'm already bleeding, so may as well try it. I'll wrap it back up after."

He successfully freed his arm from Percy's makeshift bandages and touched his fingers to the bloody skin beneath the wound. He then rubbed his fingers inside the bowl while Reyna instantly rewrapped the injury.

After several seconds, Jason said, "It probably needs more."

"Or maybe it needs some from each of us," Percy suggested.

Neither of them got the chance to test their theories, as just then the eagle suddenly began to glow. A few seconds later, the ground rumbled and the entire wall started sliding downward with the altar. The three of them instinctively retreated several steps back and watched in awe as the cave wall slowly disappeared into the ground.

Soon enough the wall was completely gone, revealing a much, much larger cavern behind it. It stretched out far into darkness, but the floor only proceeded a little farther before stopping at a massive chasm. The edge jutted out in the shape of a triangle with a rounded tip. At its point were two marble plates inlaid into the ground. Across from them in the distance, they could see a cliff at the other side of the seemingly bottomless pit. Percy didn't even get a chance to contemplate how they were supposed to get across before a horrible chill swept over him, raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

The three of them turned around in unison. More ghosts than before had appeared. The first time, they struggled just to take out seven, but now there were twelve. Percy started counting their odds, but then more appeared. There were fifteen, eighteen, twenty — rapidly it became too many to count.

"This is it," Jason muttered.

"This is what?" Percy asked, unable to keep panic out of his voice.

A massive noise echoed across the room that made Percy grip his sword tighter. It had been caused by the apparitions all drawing their ghostly swords in unison. The first few began taking leisurely steps forward and soon the rest were advancing as well.

"What do we do?" Percy said while taking a stance. "We can't beat that many."

"Back up," Jason said.

"Are you crazy?" Reyna asked.

Jason stepped in front of her and began walking backward, forcing her to do the same. He also extended his injured arm in front of Percy as he did this, so he had to follow his lead. Percy glanced behind him and the ledge was getting too close for comfort.

"Jason, stop," Percy said.

He did. The ghosts were getting closer now. He turned away from them to face his two friends, and his face shattered Percy. The son of Jupiter wiped a single tear from his cheek, and his eyes were filled with a fearful determination. He took a step back toward the ghosts and raised the tip of his sword at the two of them.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked. His voice cracked.

Reyna retreated one more step, and then chains shot up from the ground and surrounded her. Percy looked at her and saw the back of her foot had just barely touched one of the plates. The chains pulled her so she was standing completely on it and cocooned her all the way up to beneath her nose. Percy had no chance to react as the section of the ground she stood on broke off and shot across the chasm at lightning speed.

"Reyna!" Percy shouted.

"Percy," said Jason. "Find Piper for me. Tell her I never meant to leave her again."

Percy's eyes widened as realization set in. There was one plate left, and two of them.

"No," he said sternly. "Jason, no. You can't —"

Jason swung his sword and Percy instinctively raised his to block. The son of Jupiter pushed forward and Percy couldn't stop himself from stumbling back. His foot touched the marble and chains wrapped around him and covered his mouth. Time seemed to slow down as the ground he stood on broke away. The ghosts reached Jason, whose back was turned to them.

Percy began to fly across the chasm as the blade of a ghostly sword erupted from his friend's chest, sending a stream of blood through the air. Jason got smaller and smaller until the chains suddenly dropped and Percy fell backward. His back connected with the ground on the opposite side of the pit.

"No!" Percy screamed.

Reyna shakily pulled him to his feet, and they both watched in horror as more of the ghosts plunged their weapons into Jason. The son of Jupiter collapsed to his knees, and then fell forward over the edge. He plummeted off the cliff and disappeared into the darkness.

"Jason!" Reyna shouted.

Percy dropped to his hands and knees and slammed his fist into the ground. Tears began to pour from his eyes and he sobbed. A sound echoed from down below — a single loud thud as Jason's body reached the bottom.


	37. XXXVI

"It was nice meeting you, Sparky," said Leo.

Jason felt like he'd been struck by lightning. No one had called him Sparky since he'd left Piper. All those memories suddenly came flooding back to him, the ones he strived to never think about. He remembered the night he and Piper had finally admitted their love for each other. He remembered waking up in bed next to her. He could suddenly recall the taste of her lips. He could feel the pain of Piper choosing an arranged husband over him, more vividly than ever.

"Don't call me that," Jason warned, his voice dripping with misdirected anger.

Leo raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, sorry. Geez."

Jason felt instantly guilty. He apologized and then the tinkerer walked away. Then he felt a flame ignite beneath his heart, and it began beating faster. He pictured Piper's face, and he suddenly knew he had to see it again.

"What was —?" Percy began to ask, but Jason cut him off.

"You go on ahead."

"What?"

"You don't need me to talk to Gallio. I. . . I've got something I have to do."

It was true. He was going to visit Piper, and only death could stop him. His biggest regret was how the two of them had ended things. He didn't want her to look back in ten years and have that be her last memory of him. He was going to see her again. He didn't know how she'd react to him and he didn't know what he was going to say to her. All he knew was that he needed closure, and seeing her was the only way to get it.

Jason turned and walked through Neapoli at a quick pace. He knew exactly where to go; he knew these streets just as well as Rome's. He passed by people, some he even recognized, but ignored them all. He had one thing on his mind and one thing only.

He reached Tristan McLean's villa and knocked on the door. He waited anxiously for many seconds before it finally opened, revealing Tristan himself. He looked just as he remembered him, although his hair now had some streaks of gray and his face was coated with shock.

"Jason Grace," said Tristan. "I. . . what. . .?"

"I need to see Piper," Jason said urgently.

Tristan seemed to gain a bit of his composure. "Oh. Of course. But, she's not here. She lives with her husband now."

"Where?"

He stepped out of the doorway enough to point at a building a bit down the road. "Turn right after that building there and it'll be the villa at the end of the street."

Jason turned and started to leave, but then Tristan caught his wrist.

"Jason, wait!" he said.

Jason impatiently turned and faced him again, surprised to see a guilty face staring at him.

"I never knew," Tristan said regretfully. "About the two of you."

Jason stared with widened eyes. "She told you?"

Tristan nodded. "Piper's mother, her actual mother — she destroyed me, Jason. My love for her persists just as strongly as the day she left. I never wanted my girl to feel this kind of pain. I thought I was doing what's best for her, by giving her an honorable husband before she could ever have her heart broken. Little did I realize that I was causing just that."

Jason didn't answer for a time. His mind raced with the new information. He realized there were so many different possibilities that could have played out instead. They could have stayed together all this time, if only they'd just fought for each other a little harder.

"And what if she told you she wanted to marry me instead?" Jason asked. "What would you have said?"

Tristan shook his head. "Piper asked me that same question, but my answer remains the same. I honestly don't know."

Jason said his goodbyes to the man and then left. He followed Tristan's instructions and soon found himself approaching a villa smaller than the one he'd just walked away from. As he got closer, his heart began to beat faster and faster. He'd felt less nervous when he faced that hydra so many years ago.

He reached the door and knocked. He waited, but there was no answer. He knocked again, but still received no response. After knocking a third time and waiting for what felt like an eternity, he was about to concede that she wasn't home, but then the door opened.

She wore a robe and her hair was wet, as if she'd just taken a bath or been in the middle of one. Her unique eyes were as dazzling as ever and he was certain she'd never looked more beautiful. She also had this flowery scent about her, which was quite pleasant. She looked very mature, too. The last time he'd seen her, neither of them had even reached adulthood yet, so it was new; it wasn't unwelcome, though.

Now that he was actually in her presence, after so long of missing her, he froze. He'd been so confident and determined several seconds ago, and then it all went away in an instant. All of the possibilities of what to say to her that he'd thought up on the way there were forgotten. So he just stood there, frozen and staring while probably looking like a complete idiot.

But, to be fair, Piper wasn't much better. Her face showed a mixture of shock and confusion. She retreated half a step back and crossed her arms over herself, likely self-conscious about the fact that she wore nothing more than a robe. He didn't even know how long for, but the two stood there in a standstill, neither making any move or saying anything. Then something magical happened.

You can call it true love, destiny, or whatever you want — it didn't matter. In a single, idyllic moment, they synced together perfectly. He desperately wanted her and there wasn't a doubt in his mind that she wanted him too. They advanced on one another at the same time and both went straight for the kiss. Both of Piper's hands pulled his face toward hers while Jason's found their way to the small of her back and the back of her head so he could bring her as close to him as possible.

Bliss took control of them both. What were they doing? What about her husband? What if he came home? None of those questions mattered to Jason. The only thing on his mind was the woman he'd never stopped loving, who was now backing the two of them into her house without breaking the kiss.

The door closed and they slowly progressed through the home toward a bedroom, probably. Piper stopped kissing him only long enough to remove his tunic. Then her robe fell, leaving her completely bare. Soon enough Jason's shoes and pants had also been discarded.

They never made it to the bedroom; they couldn't wait that long. Jason picked her up and carried her until he found a table to set her down on. For several more seconds, their lips were glued together before he finally pulled away and they stared into each other's eyes. Her pupils were dilated and the two of them were slightly panting. His eyes darted downward for less than a second.

"Do it," she whispered, her tone pleading.

He was sure that if he tried to reply his voice would come out as barely more than a whimper. He'd never been happier than in that moment or more nervous, but letting her see that would ruin the moment. So he didn't say anything. He just punished her in every way he knew she loved for not choosing him all that time ago.

Half an hour passed and they'd found their way to a bed and lay silently together. Jason's bottom half was covered by the sheet but Piper wasn't under it at all. It took several minutes after their amorous activities had concluded for the heat to die down and them to fully regain themselves. Now that they were just laying together, completely naked, he began to feel increasingly nervous again. The fun part was done, and now they had to talk. They both had things they needed to say, and he had no idea how the conversation would end.

Eventually, she looked over at him, which meant he had to look at her. He had a hard enough time putting two thoughts together as is. With her looking like that, it was next to impossible.

"Gods I missed you, Sparky," she told him.

"Please cover yourself," Jason begged, pulling the sheet up to his chest.

She smirked and got under the covers. Now she was slightly less distracting.

"Why did you come back?" she said.

He met her eyes. "Demigod stuff brought me to Neapoli. And I just had to fix the way we said goodbye while I was here."

"So you want to say goodbye again?"

He hesitated. "Don't we have to?"

Her eyes met his. "Not necessarily."

Jason sighed sadly. "Pipes, you know nothing's changed. I can't —"

"Things have changed," she interrupted. "We're older now. I'm smarter now — smart enough to realize that life feels so empty without you in it."

His heart started beating faster. "What about your husband?"

"Forget him! I'll leave him. We can pick up where we left off."

"You really mean that?"

"Yes! I do."

Jason laughed with glee. Every word he said from then on was through a grin.

"I love you so much," he told her. "I never stopped."

"I love you too," she said.

They kissed again. He'd have been glad for it to never end, but he needed to tell her before they got too carried away. He separated their lips and gave her a somber look.

"We can't do this yet," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"I want to. You have no idea how badly I want to, but I can't right now. I've got things I need to do first."

"Like what?"

"Demi —"

"Demigod stuff, right," she finished for him with a disappointed voice. "Then when _can _we do this?"

"I wish I knew. A few more weeks? A couple of months? This quest is too important for me to abandon."

She nodded dejectedly. "Bigshot Sparky, off to save the world."

He gave a half-smile, split between amusement and guilt. "I'll come back to you. I promise."


	38. XXXVII

For the rest of his life, there would be two things he'd always vividly remember. The first was the echoing sound of his friend's body connecting with the bottom of the chasm. It'd replay in his head, again and again, bringing a sickening feeling into his stomach each and every time. The second was the look on his face right before he pulled his sword on them. The look of a man who already knew he was dead, a fearful expression that showed he didn't want to die but was wholly willing to do so so that the ones he loved might live — that look would forever be burned into his retinas. It'd be the first thing he pictured when he thought back on Jason, and it'd be a difficult challenge to not tear up every time it happened.

It'd take a while to get the actual attack out of his head, too — the image of several ghostly swords being plunged through his back and out his front, sending blood into the air. It'd be a long time before he recovered from that, but he eventually would. The memory would become hazy until he couldn't clearly picture it anymore, but the same couldn't be said for the other two. The echoing sound was the punctuation point at the end of the final sentence while his face told an entire book he'd instantly memorized word for word.

"Percy." Reyna grabbed his shoulder and shook him to get his attention. He could hear the despair in her voice, but also an urgency that just barely pulled him from his grief.

"We need to go!" she said.

Percy wiped the tears out of his eyes and looked up. Evidently, the lifeless apparitions weren't satisfied with just taking one of them, as they were now coming for them at a quick pace. They walked across the pit that divided them as if there were ground beneath their ethereal feet, and some began to break into a jog.

"We can't leave him," Percy choked.

"He- he's gone," Reyna said. He knew she was trying her best to steel herself and hide her emotions, but it wasn't working. "We have to move."

She pulled him to his feet as the ghosts made it halfway toward them. She took his hand and pulled him away from the ledge. He reluctantly allowed her to lead him away from the place where Jason had just been killed. They turned to face a new wall with another tunnel flanked by a pair of torches, but this one didn't just disappear off into darkness. There was light at the end of it.

They ran hand in hand through the tunnel and didn't stop until a loud noise sounded behind them. They turned around to see the entrance had caved in, blocking them from their ghostly pursuers. Then a maddeningly long silence followed while they both took time to process what happened.

"No," he muttered. Then louder, "No! No, he can't just be —"

He choked, then turned and weakly punched the wall. He leaned his head against it and a thousand thoughts ran through his mind, a thousand different scenarios in which Jason could have survived. None of them were plausible. He felt Reyna's hand on his back as he desperately tried to claw for hope that was too far out of his reach. He heard her unsteady breathing that told him she was doing her best not to cry.

Quickly, the desperation turned to fury. He turned away from the wall to the tunnel's exit and took off at a sprint for it. If the Fates weren't at the end of it, he'd march through however many more trials it took to reach them and make them pay.

Reyna might have been following him; she might have said something. He didn't know. He was too blinded by anger to notice or care. Jason was dead. He could either slow down and let that fact consume him or do everything in his power to make it not true.

He reached the end of the tunnel and came out into a very small but surprisingly elegant cave. A fragrant scent immediately met his nostrils that almost calmed him down a bit, but his anger was stronger than whatever incense was burning. There were tapestries all over the walls and several candles lit around the room. The walls and even the floor had more of the indecipherable text carved all over it. Toward the back was a long, plush bench. Sunlight shone through a small hole in the roof directly at it.

Percy stopped and stared around, but there was nothing else here. There was no new tunnel leading off somewhere else or any altar they had to give their blood to. This was the end, and there was no one here.

"Moirai!" Percy yelled. His voice bounced off the cave walls, but no one answered his call.

Reyna showed up next to him and tried to grab his hand, but he absentmindedly pulled it away. Even though he wasn't looking at her, he could feel her about to say something, but she didn't get the chance to. Just then, he was hit with a sense of vertigo. The entire room seemed to spin which nearly caused him to topple over, but he managed to keep his balance. When it was over, the bench was no longer empty.

From left to right sat Clotho, the spinner; Lachesis, the measurer; and Atropos, the cutter. They all looked identical, other than the color of robes they wore. He could tell which was which because they were in the process of working a line of thread, each doing their designated tasks. They appeared very old and stared with blank faces and curious eyes. They were three of the most powerful deities in the world, which made what came next extremely stupid.

Looking back, Percy would later realize how suicidal his next actions were. At present, he was too grief-stricken to stop himself from making stupid decisions. First, he charged the Moirai with his sword in hand, fully intending to strike. After running into an invisible wall that knocked him back, he opted instead to yell at them.

Since moving to Rome, Latin had become his primary tongue. The instant he saw the moirai, he completely forgot that. He switched back to Greek and chose a handful of colorful insults to shout at them. Any other deity would have smitten him as soon as he opened his mouth, but the Fates just calmly sat and took the verbal abuse.

He took a second to catch his breath before continuing. "'The Hollow is fatal to the unworthy.' Is that what you think he was? Was that why you murdered him? You're wrong! He was more worthy than any of you! Bring him back!"

Once it was clear he was done shouting for the time being, the Moirai opened their mouths and spoke in unison.

"_Where future is birthed beneath the ground,_

_The eagle falls and hope is found._

_End shall crises of morrow and now,_

_Upon an exchange, should a king allow."_

As they spoke, a block of that mysterious text on the ground began to glow. With every word uttered, the symbols morphed into regular Greek letters transcribing their speech. Once they finished, the text continued to glow for several seconds before returning to looking like gibberish. Percy's eyes lingered on it for only a moment before returning to the Moirai.

He opened his mouth to yell some more, but Clotho spoke over him.

"The Oracle of Delphi uttered that prophecy," she said. "Its words are inevitable and unfightable. That was why you were not allowed to know them."

"Jason Grace never heard it either," said Atropos, "but knew it was his destiny to fulfill it."

"Don't say his name!" Percy said. "_You_ killed him!"

Lachesis shook her head. "He killed himself. He made a choice to withhold information instead of turning back."

"He lied to you," said Clotho. "His beloved daughter of Aphrodite did not guide him through the maze."

Reyna was as surprised as him. "Daughter of —?"

"The person whom he had lost was himself, and so that was who he saw," said Atropos.

"He was told that Rome had to make a sacrifice," said Lachesis. "Either he or you —" all three pointed at Reyna "— would have to willingly give up their life for the quest to succeed."

"He could have fought prophecy," said Clotho. "He could have told you what he knew and the eagle would still fly, at the price of an entire pantheon."

"No," Percy muttered and wiped his eyes.

"But that was not who he was. He understood the necessity —"

"Don't you talk about who he was! You never knew him! We did! Bring him back!"

"Death is irreversible," said Atropos.

"You're goddesses! Bring him back! He wanted to go back to Neapoli. He was happy. He deserves to live!"

They just gave him regretful looks. Percy tried to advance on them again but was thrown back by an unseeable force, just like before. This time, when he tried to get up, he only made it to his knees. He slumped there, defeated, and the tears began to fall for real. Reyna was at his side a moment later and pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and sobbed into her shoulder, and she did the same.

It takes time to fully process death. One minute your friend is alive and by your side with optimistic plans for his future, the next he's lying dead at the bottom of a pit. How are you supposed to just _accept_ that? How are you supposed to just carry on, knowing that he won't?

He'd dealt with loss before, too much and too often. But all those deaths were driven by human motivation. His mother, killed in a violent street brawl; the demigods, murdered by their brethren for trying to make peace; Nico and Bianca, silenced for knowing too much; Daedalus, publicly executed for a lifetime of mistakes he'd spent several trying to make up for — some deaths were more random than others, some stung more, but they all had a person snuffing out their lives. Jason died because three all-powerful hags wrote a poem that said it was necessary.

It just felt so arbitrary and unnecessary. The Hollow had been perfectly engineered to kill him in the most unexpected way while still giving him the illusion of choice. Jason shouldn't be dead, but for some reason he was.

He could place the blame on the Fates, and he was making a damn good effort to, but what was the point? Ten thousand years would pass and his name would be long forgotten, yet they'd still stand as healthy and whole as ever. Human life was like a blink of an eye to them. What was one compared to an entire pantheon of gods?

Percy remembered when he'd woken up in the Temple of Apollo. He'd looked Titan's idiot goons in the eyes and told them Jason was his brother. He realized now that he hadn't been lying. Jason may not have opened up a whole lot, but the few times he had he'd laid it all out on the table. Percy would have trusted him with his life.

Just a number of months ago Percy was betrothed to his childhood friend and determined to liberate his people from the clutches of Roman conquerors. Then he'd met two wonderful strangers that were members of those armies. In such a relatively short time he'd grown so close to them. He'd fallen in love with one, and the other would leave an unfillable hole in his heart.

He couldn't guess how long he and Reyna stayed like that, sorrowfully wrapped in each others' embrace. It could have been hours for all he knew. He'd never forget what the Fates did nor forgive them, but at least they had the decency to be patient and allow the two of them to grieve.

When the water finally stopped flowing, Reyna whispered, "We had a mission."

Percy just gave a weak nod, made even weaker from his chin resting on her shoulder.

"He'd want us to finish it," she said.

Percy pulled away and wiped his face. He took a very shaky breath and gave a more pronounced nod.

"You're right," he said. "Let's get it done with. . . for him."

Together they stood. They turned to the Fates who were just sitting there, watching them. Percy took Reyna's hand and did his best not to get angry again.

"Can you convince Jupiter?" Reyna asked the Fates. Her voice was steady, but he could hear the disdain in it.

"To do what?" asked Atropos.

Percy took a single step forward and balled his free hand into a fist. "You know damn well wha —"

Reyna squeezed his hand, which was enough for him to reign himself in. He took a deep breath and allowed her to do the talking.

"Unity," she said. "Whatever that means. Can you convince Jupiter to do it?"

Lachesis answered. "We believe it to be plausible."

"If you needn't more time," said Clotho, "We can go to Olympus forthwith."

Reyna looked at Percy and he nodded. She looked back to the Fates and opened her mouth, but didn't get a chance to say anything. Percy felt the same sensation as going through the tunnels. When he could see again, they were no longer in the cave — they weren't even in the Hollow anymore.

They now stood within the throne room on Olympus. It took Percy a moment to process that this was the same Olympus he'd been to before. They stood within Zeus's decreasingly grand palace, the twelve Greek Olympians slumbering in their thrones. The hearth in the middle of the room was unlit and he could see Hestia lying there peacefully, exactly the way he'd last seen her.

Percy turned around and found the Moirai standing behind him. Since Reyna was still holding his hand, she was forced to turn around too.

"I thought we were going to Roman Olympus," Percy said, confused.

Atropos shook her head. "No. It shall take place here. This has to occur with a majority of the gods in one place."

Percy looked around, but it was still only the Greeks. When he turned his gaze back toward the Fates, he noticed they were staring at him expectantly.

"What?" he said.

"You must invite the Romans here," said Lachesis.

Percy furrowed his brow. "Me?"

"You are Greek," said Clotho. "With the son of Hermes's passing, you're the eldest conscious Greek of godly blood. You're the only one with the status to do so."

Percy looked at Reyna, and she shrugged. It was weird standing in a room full of gods and being told that you have the most authority. He looked back to the Fates, who were waiting.

"I invite the Roman gods here," he said to no one in particular.

Seconds passed before the doors to the palace slammed open and a crowd of people marched in, most with weapons drawn and wearing full battle armor. At the lead was a crowned man wielding a golden spear that a single bolt of electricity snaked around. Right behind him was his wife, Juno, who looked very somber. Next to her was Vesta, who carried the pithos in her arms and smiled warmly at Percy. Behind them were many guards that looked vaguely reminiscent of their sleeping Greek counterparts — Percy could recognize Apollo, Diana, Mars, Bacchus, and a few others, but most he couldn't name.

The one that really drew his eye, though, was an older looking man wearing a golden crown in his long, white hair and holding a silver trident that stood as tall as him, which was bedazzled with numerous pearls in intricate detail. His beard matched his hair and his face only had a few wrinkles. He wore no armor, only a toga that left half his muscular chest bare. Other than his weapon of choice and the fact that his eyes were sea-green like Percy's — he'd always assumed he'd inherited them from his father — Neptune bore no resemblance to Poseidon, who had the appearance of a forty-year-old at most.

The Roman sea god marched in proudly with the rest of his peers and eyed Percy with a calculating look. Percy took the lack of malice in his eyes as a good sign. He wasn't entirely sure what to think of him, though.

It seemed to take Jupiter a moment to realize the Fates were in the room. He stopped several paces away from them and the rest of the Roman gods took formation behind him.

"Parcae," he said with a startled look.

"It's Moirai, today," said Clotho.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

"You needn't have prepared for conquest," said Lachesis.

"This is a matter of peace," said Atropos.

Jupiter sheathed his spear on his back, but still looked somewhat confused. Then a hand placed itself on his shoulder. He turned around to face the third and last crowned Roman deity — a gaunt man wearing soft-looking robes over his pale skin. It looked as if he'd just appeared behind Jupiter.

"Brother," said the new god. "I have dire news."

"You only ever have dire news, Pluto," said Jupiter dismissively.

"It pertains to your son."

Jupiter's stern face turned deadly. "No."

"I'm sorry. Not only has he perished, but he did not enter into my domain," Pluto explained.

The king's expression tightened. "_What?_"

"I believe he's gone to Hades."

Percy's heart clenched.

Jupiter furiously turned on the Fates. "Why is _my_ son in the Underworld of a sleeping Greek?"

But it was Vesta who answered. She stepped forward and held the pithos high for everyone to see, then announced, "The exchange of offerings has been made. The Greeks seek unity."

Most of the Roman gods began muttering amongst each other.

Jupiter seemed to take a second to understand her, then narrowed his eyes. "_My son?_ You traded my son's life for a spirit in a bottle so as to bail _them_ out of their predicament?"

"This is larger than just them, husband," said Juno.

If it was even possible for the king to look more furious, he did. Jupiter turned to face her so abruptly that she had to retreat two steps back, but she kept her composure.

"_What_ did you do?" he demanded.

"I helped my champion fulfill his destiny," she answered, a tiny waver in her voice.

"You led him to his death!"

"You knew the prophecy; you all knew it."

"Every time you try to interpret a prophecy people die!" Jupiter shouted.

Juno flinched. "This has to happen, my love. It's in our best interest; it's in _everyone's_ best interests."

"I will not have my people subjected to —"

"Jupiter," said the three Fates at once.

He focused his glare on them.

"They speak the truth," said Clotho. "Their demise —" Atropos and Lachesis pointed at the sleeping Olympians, "— will not ensure your triumph."

"It'll only pave the way for history to be repeated," said Lachesis.

"You know that no empire is eternal," said Atropos. "Rome will eventually fall, as Greece did before it. Mortals will stop worshipping you."

"When that day comes," said Clotho, "you'll be sleeping in your chairs, and there will be no one to come to your aid."

"Greece fell because their gods were too weak to stop it," Jupiter argued. "Zeus buried himself because of his own incompetence. I'll not dirty my spade in digging him up when I can work to make sure my people build an empire strong enough to reign for millennia."

"Your hubris will be your own undoing," said Lachesis. "The ancient law of unity exists for a reason. The time has come."

"Shun it and you will fall, with your fellow gods and the world alongside you," said Atropos. "The choice you make here today in regards to them will inflict the same punishment upon yourself."

"Jupiter," said Vesta. "Please. This is the only way. Don't let your son's death be in vain."

"I never asked him to give his life for _them_!" he said.

"But he did. He made a choice, because he and these two heroes knew how important this was. We _need_ the Greeks just as much as they need us."

Jupiter paced silently for a while, apparently deep in thought. Percy couldn't even begin to understand what he was thinking. He didn't even know what it was that was being debated, or why the king of gods was so averse to the idea.

Jupiter finally stopped and met Percy's eyes. He looked him and Reyna over for a few seconds before saying, "The daughter of Bellona and the Savior of Greece. Do you believe you've earned that title, Graecus? You think you can just call us here and have all your precious gods wake up, hale and hearty?"

Percy took a shaky breath. "I never called myself a savior of anything. I don't know what this unity thing is, but I know you should do it. It'd be stupid to let Jason have died for nothing."

Reyna squeezed his hand. Vesta shot him a warning look, but the damage was done.

"_Stupid_?" said Jupiter. A spark of electricity arced off his skin and into the air. "You're calling me stupid?"

Percy's eyes widened. "No! No, I only meant —"

"Shut up. _This_ is the hero who summoned us? He is the supposed Savior of Greece? He comes so far and does so much and doesn't even know what it is he's fighting for."

Percy winced. That last sentence pretty much summed up his entire life.

"I'll not do it," Jupiter said.

Vesta looked shocked. "Brother —"

"I'll not do it," Jupiter repeated, "until he proves himself."

"Has he not already done enough?" Vesta protested.

"Not another word. My decision has been made. He shall retrieve the scythe of Kronos — only then will he have earned the right to bear his title."

"Don't you mean Saturn?" Percy asked before he could stop himself.

Jupiter glared at him. "Unlike _that_ fool —" he pointed at Zeus "— I did not hesitate to dispose of a weapon that dangerous. Once my father had been defeated, I _handed_ his scythe over to Pluto. After disposing of Saturn's remains, we had the weapon properly destroyed. But in the culmination of Zeus's war, he tossed Kronos's scythe aside to gather his chopped up bits and toss them into Tartarus. It was promptly taken, and has been missing ever since."

"So why wait until now to do something about it?"

"We've tried," Jupiter seethed. "Both him and I. The heroes we've sent in search failed to return alive. If you're as worthy as my eldest sister believes you to be, you'll succeed. It shall remain to be seen whether this is the case."

"So what do we —?"

"There will be no 'we'," Jupiter said shortly. "It's _you_ who needs to prove yourself, not her. Bellona's daughter stays behind."

"But —"

"Enough questions."

Percy gritted his teeth. It became clear to him that Jupiter made a habit of cutting people off. He glanced at Reyna who just looked at him helplessly.

"You will journey to Mount Othrys where you'll find Atlas," Jupiter ordered. "Due to his special condition, he can never fully succumb to the curse that has befallen the other Greeks. He was Kronos's most trusted officer; if anyone knows where the scythe is, it's him. And before you ask, his Roman equivalent is in Tartarus where all titans belong. Unlike the Greeks, _we_ did not show a semblance of mercy to our enemies, so you'll only ever see theirs on the surface world."

Percy looked around at the other gods, all of whom were watching him expectantly. He glanced behind him where he saw his sleeping father among the other Greek Olympians. Then he met Reyna's eyes, who gave him a single nod of encouragement.

Percy looked back to Jupiter. "Fine. How will I get there?"

"Meet me at the edge of the city," Vesta said to him.

"Vesta," Jupiter warned.

"I know," she said. "No helping him. But he is still my champion and I would speak with him before he departs."

Jupiter scoffed, but said, "So be it. Be quick about it."

Vesta gave Percy a small smile and then left the palace. He knew that was his cue to follow, but he wasn't ready to go just yet. He'd just lost his best friend and didn't want to have to deal with that alone, or for Reyna to have to cope on her own. But it was clear he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

He turned to face her once again, taking both her hands in his. He wanted to kiss her, but didn't know whether the gods would find that inappropriate, especially considering her mother was probably among them somewhere. Before he got the chance to decide whether he wanted to chance it, she wrapped him in a hug.

"Come back safe," she whispered in his ear. "I can't lose you too."

"You won't," Percy promised.

He wasn't going to let go of her, but then Jupiter cleared his throat. He reluctantly pulled away and turned to face the gods, who had parted to leave a clear path out of Zeus's palace. Percy gave Reyna one last look and then began walking after his patron goddess.

The Hollow was supposed to be the last obstacle. That's what she'd told him. Now he was off to do some random side quest that many other demigods had died failing to complete, evidently. He had to wonder if a "final obstacle" even really existed. Every time he came around the track toward the finish line, there was always another lap he had to do. How long before the chariot began to fall apart or the horses became too exhausted?

Worse yet was that he was the only rider left, now. He wasn't allowed to take Reyna with him, and now Jason was gone. He had to keep racing alone, while the final lap kept getting further and further away. And it wasn't like he could just stop, either; someone _had_ to cross the finish line, and he was the only one able to do so.

Outside the palace dozens of minor Roman gods were lined up along the path, all watching him silently. One goddess in particular drew his gaze, though. She was in a full set of plate armor and had a sword sheathed on one side of her waist and a blazing torch on the other — the heat didn't seem to affect her. As he walked by, she gave him a scrutinizing look, as if she were both warning him and trying to determine his worthiness at the same time. Her black eyes matched Reyna's but lacked her warmth at the moment.

He reached the edge of Olympus where he and Jason had landed the only other time he'd been here. Vesta was sitting cross-legged in front of Blackjack and Scipio, who had somehow managed to make it here all the way from the Hollow. The pithos stood up behind her and there was a satchel in her lap.

Percy refused to speak first. He was still partly in shock, and also cross with her. She'd known full well what would happen to Jason, and she'd sent them off to the Hollow anyway. He wasn't about to reprimand her for it, because he didn't want to waste any more time, but he could still be quietly angry.

"I'm certain my apologies will mean very little to you," she said as if she'd read his mind. "So I'll save them for when you've had more time to process."

"Is that all?" he said bluntly.

"No. You must understand that my brother can have severe tunnel-vision when it comes to the Greeks. He's always been bitter about having to live in Zeus's shadow, as he'd been 'the original'. For the past decade or so he's grown accustomed to being the only king. Even though deep down he might understand that this is in his best interest, he'll not so readily compromise his position of power."

"With all due respect, _my lady_, I don't care. All I want to know is what unity means. I want to know what my friend died for."

Scipio tilted his head at that, but didn't comment.

She sighed sadly. "If you've not figured it out on your own by now, then I can't help you."

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'd expect no less. Can I go now?"

"You may, but you'll be wanting this." She held up the satchel. "Jupiter wishes me not to aid you, but this is small enough. He won't have to know."

Percy took it from her and swiftly mounted Blackjack.

"I really thought he wouldn't make you do this," she said. "Perhaps I was being naive or maybe Elpis is just affecting me. But I'm certain if anyone can succeed, it's you. Good luck."

With a flash of light, she disappeared.

"_What was all that?_" Blackjack asked once she was gone.

"Don't worry about it," Percy replied. "Let's go."

"_What of the others?_" said Scipio.

Percy's eyes began to well up again, and he blinked back the tears. "Reyna's being forced to sit this one out, and Jason. . ."

It took Blackjack a moment to understand. "_No._"

"'_I want to know what my friend died for,'_" Scipio quoted with a heavy voice.

Percy just nodded.

"_I'm so sorry, Boss,_" said Blackjack.

"Let's just fly. Scipio, you don't have to come. Stay here with Reyna and keep her company for me, would you?"

Scipio nodded, uncharacteristically quiet.

"_We'll be back soon, Skippy._" Blackjack spread his wings and took flight.


	39. XXXVIII

The sun was gone from the sky, but still, they pressed on. The clouds began to thicken not too far above them, welling up at a lesser size than the pain he felt inside. He didn't think it would rain — they didn't look like storm clouds — but he silently prayed that it did. He could use some rain right now. Water always helped to calm him, give him strength when he had little.

"_Got to land soon,_" said Blackjack.

"Do it now," said Percy. "It's late. We should get some sleep."

"_Sure thing, Boss._"

Blackjack descended through the sky and the ground loomed nearer. Soon enough they touched down on a grassy hill and Percy dismounted. Blackjack stretched his wings out for a second before folding them and finding a suitable piece of ground to sleep on. Percy took a seat a decent distance from the pegasus and took his satchel off his shoulder, quickly remembering it was only one of two he now had on him. He closed it and set it aside before opening up the one Vesta had given him. A handful of items and a small sheet of papyrus were contained within.

The sheet read, _The white canteen contains nectar, and those golden squares are ambrosia. They can be quite fulfilling, but also have great healing properties on demigods. Use them sparingly if you have to, as too much can prove fatal. Do not give to mortals._

Percy flipped over the note to see if anything had been written on the back. When he learned there wasn't, he set it aside and picked up one of the ambrosia cubes. It was very soft, kind of like a greaseless piece of cheese. It had a rich golden texture and looked quite appetizing. There were only four of them, though, so he thought it best to heed the note's advice and be conservative with them. Also within the satchel were two canteens. One was black, and he could sense regular freshwater inside of it, while the white one contained a sweet-smelling liquid. Various jerkies, apples that Blackjack would enjoy, and bandages made up the rest of the bag's contents.

Percy stuffed the items back inside the satchel except for a single strip of jerky. He bit off a piece and was met with a savory taste so good he almost had to wonder if he'd eaten the ambrosia by accident. He supposed it shouldn't be unexpected that a goddess can provide the best jerky he'd ever tasted, but he really hadn't been expecting anything special.

He had planned to eat it slowly, but found himself unable to not scarf the rest of the piece down. After a mental struggle to not have any more, Percy laid down and closed his eyes, using the other satchel for a pillow. He attempted to fall asleep and failed miserably. He didn't know how long he laid there, doing his best to try and not think about Jason. It had to have been at least a couple of hours before pure exhaustion finally let him drift off to sleep, and he wasn't sure if that made things better or worse.

* * *

Percy dreamt he was in an ocean. An island was off in the distance and he swam furiously toward it. He _needed_ to reach it at any cost. Not doing so meant death — no, something worse than death, but he didn't know what.

The clouds grew dense overhead while he swam. They darkened and swirled together, looming ominously above like some kind of omen. Percy swam harder, but found the waves resisting him. He couldn't bend them to his will, so he was pushed back whilst doing his best to move forward. He began to panic, and it started to rain.

It was slow and agonizing, but eventually, he got close enough to see a figure on the island. He picked up the pace and the waves died down, for some reason suddenly allowing him to approach. He saw the blonde hair and electric blue eyes of Jason Grace, who was waving his hands around feverishly and yelling for him to turn back. Percy wasn't dissuaded.

The storm picked up. It began pouring down more violently, pelting his skin with droplets of water. He was seconds away from reaching the shore when a huge wave literally picked him up and threw him back. He fell beneath the surface for several seconds, disoriented and inexplicably unable to breathe. His head breached the surface and he began swimming toward the island again, just in time to see Jason struck by lightning. He was blinded momentarily, unable to see, but then he could make out a wave washing up onto the island. It pulled Jason's motionless figure away from the sand and into the sea.

Percy reached the island and crawled toward where Jason had been standing. He then waded back into the ocean and ducked his head beneath the water, but couldn't see anything. He kicked around fruitlessly, trying to find his friend but was unable to see where the currents had carried him.

He wasn't willing to give up, though. He splashed around and looked every which way. His limbs grew sore and his fingers began to prune so badly that a thin layer of his skin began to tear off. He ignored it all, adamantly continuing to search for what was gone until he physically was unable to keep himself afloat. He began to sink and saltwater filled his lungs. He choked and began to fear until his consciousness faded into nothing.

* * *

Percy awoke coughing, desperately trying to expel water from his system that had never entered it. The realization that it had only been a dream reached him several seconds later, but the fear and the panic still felt so real. Blackjack was fretting worriedly near him, asking if he was alright. Percy stopped coughing and pushed himself into a sitting position, assuring Blackjack he was fine. He dug into his satchel and took a swig from a canteen, making sure it was water he was drinking and not nectar.

"_You sure you're fine, Boss?_" Blackjack asked.

"Yes," Percy said dismissively. "Just a. . . vivid nightmare. Nothing to worry about."

"_If you're sure._"

Half an hour later they'd both eaten and readied for travel once more. They took to the skies and flew toward Mount Othrys. Blackjack attempted to make conversation during the journey and Percy tried to participate, but couldn't bring himself to talk all that much. So for the most part, they flew in silence, taking a break whenever the pegasus needed to rest his wings.

"_Where future is birthed beneath the ground,_

_The eagle falls and hope is found,_

_End shall crises of morrow and now,_

_Upon an exchange, should a king allow."_

The words of the prophecy uttered by the Fates came into his mind. He felt like it added insult to injury. He'd lost so many people to various killers, yet the person whose death stung the most had been slain by a poem.

Percy sighed. It was no use dwelling on what had already been done. Jason was dead, and now it was his duty to make sure his sacrifice meant something. He was going to get this scythe, deliver it to Jupiter, and then it'd finally be over.

If he'd tried to say that out loud, he wouldn't have been able to finish it without laughing at himself. This would never be over, and he was kidding himself to think it ever could be. He'd retrieve the scythe and then something else would come next — something always came next. There was no final obstacle.

Their destination came into view after a few hours of flying. The mountain didn't look like anything special. It was completely barren and a lot shorter than Mount Olympus. He didn't see anything resembling a titan fortress or a man holding up the sky on its peak. He actually began to doubt if they were going to the right mountain.

Those doubts disappeared as they got closer. Clouds rapidly formed above the mountain. The nearer they got to it, the thicker and darker they became. They swirled around in a spiral, actually touching down and looking to connect with the peak. When they were close enough for it to loom over them, the clouds had gone completely black and were dense enough to block out the sunlight. Blackjack flew toward the top, but then suddenly stopped.

"_I can't go any farther,_" he said.

"Why not?" Percy asked.

"_I don't know. There's just some kind of force keeping us at bay. It won't let us get closer._"

"Then land. I guess we'll just have to approach on foot."

"_On it, Boss_."

Blackjack lowered toward the ground, but did so at an odd angle. He veered off a bit to the right, going farther away from the most direct path up the mountain than may have been necessary. Percy was about to comment, then he noticed they were closing in on a cave. He thought he'd had enough of caves, but his curiosity got the better of him. It wouldn't hurt to just take a peek inside.

Blackjack landed and Percy slid off his back. He took a couple of steps toward the cave, getting an ominous feeling. There was definitely something magical about it, but he wasn't sure what could be inside.

"You can take off, but stay close," Percy said.

"_Alright_." The pegasus spread his wings, but hesitated. "_Hey, Boss. Stay safe._"

Percy nodded to him and Blackjack lifted off into the air. He turned his attention back to the cave and drew his sword. It was raised up a bit on the mountainside, so he had to climb up a bit to get to the edge of it. Once there, he saw a rather homely looking interior that he only got a second to examine.

Lanterns were hanging down from the ceiling on silver chains, illuminating the entire area. A fur rug covered a good portion of the floor. Off to the corner was an unlit hearth with a cooking pot hanging over it. A chest was pushed up against the wall right next to a crude bed made of wood and covered with animal skin blankets. He noticed all of this at first glance, his eyes probably glazing over some things as there was something more pressing that drew his attention.

Laying on the floor, unmoving and covered in blood, was a dark-haired woman with copper skin, maybe a couple of years younger than him. Her face looked rather pale and there were three parallel slashes across her torso. Percy immediately ran and dropped to her side. He checked her pulse, and thankfully found one. He carefully scooped her into his arms and laid her on the bed before digging around in Vesta's satchel. He was looking for the bandages, but the ambrosia was on top. He picked up a square and stared at it contemplatively for a moment before trading it for the white canteen.

_Do not give to mortals_, the note had read. This woman wasn't a mortal, he was certain of it. Her blood was red, which meant she was at least human, but she had an aura about her that told him she had magic running in her veins. He uncorked the canteen, gently opened her mouth, and poured a bit of the nectar in.

It worked like a charm. Instantly the color started returning to her face and the bleeding slowed until it stopped completely. Her breathing became more steady and when he checked her pulse he found that her heart was beating faster. He dribbled a bit more nectar down her throat and then placed a square of ambrosia in her mouth. Within seconds, she started chewing it unconsciously and swallowed it. Her wounds slowly began to close and then her eyes shot open.

She sat up so quickly she almost headbutted him. He backed away and stood up from his kneeling position. Her gaze swept over the room for half a second before landing on him and settling into a glare.

"Who are you?" she demanded. She was barefoot and wore a comfortable-looking robe that extended down to her ankles, but unfortunately, the cuts exposed a decent amount of her bloodied skin and upper undergarments.

Percy took a few more steps back to give her space and raised his hands placatingly. "I'm just a demigod. My name's Percy. You were hurt, so I helped."

She tried to get to her feet but winced. Her hands went to her stomach and touched at the slowly healing cuts, and she winced some more. Looking down she noticed how badly her clothes had been torn and hastily crossed her arms over her chest.

Percy purposefully turned his eyes to above her head as he pulled the bandages from his satchel. "I promise I'm only here to help. Let me dress your injuries."

She eyed him cautiously and then extended out one hand. "I can do it myself."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" she snapped.

Percy reluctantly gave her the bandages. She then held them and stared at him expectantly.

"Turn around!" she finally said.

"Oh, sorry." He awkwardly did so.

He waited patiently for her to finish, but after about a minute he heard a grunt of frustration.

"Need help?" he said.

A few seconds of silence passed before she sighed. "Fine. I shall allow you to aid me."

He turned around. She'd dropped her robe down to her hips which left her entire upper body bare except for her chest wrappings. He felt rather awkward about that, but didn't think too much of it. There were zero sexual or romantic implications there, as she was covered in her own blood and very clearly in pain. The parallel cuts across her abdomen were now completely visible, and he could see how deep they were. The bleeding had stopped and they'd begun to close, but still looked fresh and very serious. The nectar and ambrosia wouldn't be enough to heal them completely, but they might have saved her life.

He took a couple of steps toward her and she extended the partially unwrapped bandages — which now bore a handful of bloodstains — to him without meeting his eyes. He took and stared at them for only a moment before setting them aside.

"That needs cleaning," he said, pointing to her abdomen.

She waved her hand toward the hearth, next to which was a bucket full of water beneath a corked metal pipe. She started to push herself to her feet. He went to put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from doing so, but she flinched at the gesture which made him halt and withdraw his hand.

"Stay seated," he told her instead.

She looked at him warily. "I'm not going to let my bed get soaked."

"It won't. Just don't move too much, and trust me."

She reluctantly waved for him to do what he was planning. Percy walked over to the bucket and dipped his hand in. A feeling of energy spread through him which helped him to relax, followed by a wave of relief. After his experience in the Hollow's lake and that dream, he'd begun to irrationally fear that he might never have water on his side again.

He retracted his hand and a ball of water came with it. He turned back toward her and her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't comment. He approached and moved the water toward her injuries, but paused. As soon as she gave him a nod of approval, he pushed the water so it came into contact with her skin. It spread over her and wrapped completely around her midsection. He closed his eyes to concentrate, commanding the liquid to pick up all the blood and dirt off of her.

"You said you're a demigod," she said while he worked.

He nodded. "My father is Poseidon, which explains this. You're a demigod too?"

"No. My father is Atlas."

He was so startled by that that he almost dropped the water. He opened his eyes to see a look of shame on her face. "Atlas? The titan?"

"I'm no fonder of that fact than you. I'm a Hesperide — _was_ a Hesperide. My name is Zoë."

"You _were_ a Hesperide? Do you want to tell me the story there?"

"No."

The water had picked up all it could. He retracted it all back into a murky red ball before shooting it out of the cave's entrance. He then picked up the bandages and used his knife to cut off the bloodied bits before starting to unravel them.

"What did you heal me with?" Zoë asked.

"Nectar and ambrosia." He went to wrap her gashes but then she caught his wrist.

"Nectar? Do you have more?"

"Yeah, but you're only supposed to take it sparingly."

"Apply some of that."

He stared at her. "To the cuts?"

"Yes, it helps."

"I thought you were meant to drink it."

"You are," she said impatiently. "It can act as a salve too."

He did as she asked and gently poured a tiny trickle of nectar over the wounds after telling her to lay back. They began to close slightly faster and already didn't look as deep, but he could tell it'd still take a while for them to fully heal. Even then she'd probably be left bearing scars for the rest of her life.

She sat back up and he began wrapping the bandages around her. He then finally asked the question that had been on his mind the whole time. "What caused this?"

"Dragon."

He paused. "A _dragon_ did this to you?"

She nodded. "It is my curse. Whenever I attempt to leave this cave, my father's dragon descends to stop me from doing so. Earlier, I had a. . . feeling. I ventured too near the exit and she caught me by surprise."

He continued wrapping the bandages. "So. . . you've been trapped in this cave for how long?"

"One thousand years? Yes, that sounds about accurate, more or less."

He gaped at her. "A _thousand_ years? You haven't been able to leave this cave in a thousand years?"

She sighed sadly. "Indeed. Resources appear in the chest every time I run low, water comes from the pipe on the wall, and the hearth is never short on tinder. I have everything I need."

Her voice sounded bitter, as if she could readily name a thousand things she needed but didn't have. He tied off the bandages and took a step back to give her space. She started to lift her robe back up to her shoulders, but then remembered the rips.

Percy gestured at the chest. "You have more in here?"

She nodded. He opened it and pulled out the first article of clothing he found — another silken robe — and then handed it to her. He turned around and waited for her to change. After a few seconds, he asked another question.

"So, _why_ are you being forced to stay in here?"

She didn't answer. After about half a minute, she said, "You can turn around now."

He did so and found that her ruined robe had been discarded somewhere and she now wore the fresh one he'd handed her.

"I think I need some rest," she said. She did look very short on energy.

"Right," Percy said. He tried to think of an appropriate way to say goodbye, but didn't get a chance.

"Could you. . . stay awhile?" Zoë asked. "Just in case?"

He contemplated for a bit. He wasn't exactly pressed for time, and it felt wrong to just leave her to spend another thousand years trapped in here. But he still didn't like the idea of sitting around doing nothing with a random — admittedly pretty — woman he didn't know while Reyna was waiting for him on Olympus. He wanted to get the scythe and return as fast as possible so they could figure out the best way to give Jason his well-deserved rites.

"I really have something I need to be getting to," he finally answered.

"Please," she said with an expression that showed an internal struggle. "I just need a few hours' slumber, and then we can speak."

His curiosity won him over. He wanted to know more about her and why she was cursed. He had to learn if there was a way for him to free her. Plus, she _was_ Atlas's daughter, so maybe she would be able to tell him something that could help him extricate the information he needed.

"Fine." He walked over to a corner of the cave and sat down.

"If you grow hungry, feel free to cook something," she said before laying down.

She slid beneath her covers, still fully robed, and rolled onto her side so her back was facing him. Percy pulled a canteen from his satchel and took a swig of water, then leaned his head back against the wall.

* * *

Percy had found a sack of beans within the chest as well as a small assortment of spices. He wasn't exactly a master cook, so he just boiled a bunch until they were soft and mixed in a few spices that had pleasing smells. He dished out two bowlfuls and began eating his serving while Zoë slept, leaving hers near enough to the fire to keep it warm. He probably hadn't done the best job in preparing it, but considering how few hot meals you got to enjoy on the road, he thought it tasted rather excellent.

Eventually, Zoë woke up and accepted the bowl he handed her. She sat down cross-legged on the rug facing him, a decent gap between the two, and ate her food. He judged by her lack of a negative reaction that he didn't do too poorly — admittedly, it's not exactly easy to ruin beans.

She looked better. Her face had a lot more color to it and she seemed to be more energized. She didn't look as bothered by the cuts the dragon had inflicted upon her, although still occasionally grimaced if she moved her torso in the wrong way.

They ate in silence. Percy, who'd been eating his beans rather slowly just so he had something to do, started consuming larger spoonfuls while Zoë ate quite quickly. If he hadn't had a headstart on her, she'd have finished before him. As it stood, her bowl still emptied less than a minute after his.

He finally broke the silence by saying, "Not hurting as bad?"

"No," she replied. "Thanks to you. I'd have healed on my own, albeit a lot slower and in much more pain."

"You sound like you're talking from experience."

"You think this was the first time I ventured near the exit in a millennium? I've survived much worse."

"And here I was thinking I'd actually managed to save someone's life for once."

An awkward silence followed lasting several seconds, during which he adamantly stared at the floor while practically able to _feel _her eyes on him.

"You've lost someone," she said.

He didn't say anything.

"I can't pretend I'm good at reading people," she said. "Since being imprisoned here, I've only ever seen my sisters, who visit rarely to ridicule me. In fact, you're the first male I've seen since. . ."

He looked at her. "Since who?"

She shook her head. "It's unimportant. What I was saying was, I can see that you're in pain."

"Is it that obvious?"

"Who was it?"

After a moment, he answered. "His name was Jason. I. . . I honestly didn't know him for all that long — only a number of months — but he was like a brother to me. When I'd lost my sense of purpose and been forced to turn my back on the people I considered my family, he acted as a true friend, even though it took him a while to fully trust me."

"I'm sorry. How. . . how did it happen?"

Percy was silent for a brief spell. "I'm not ready to talk about that just yet."

There was a quiet in which the only sound was from a gentle breeze that blew through the cave's entrance. He'd meant what he'd said. He wasn't ready to talk about what happened, not with some woman he'd just met. His heart ached as the face of the one person he'd be willing to let himself become vulnerable in front of came into his mind. He wanted more than anything to be with her right now, so that neither would have to cope alone. The thought of Reyna was enough to get him to talk about why he was here in the first place, but Zoë had a different topic in mind.

"The reason I'm no longer a Hesperide," she said, "the reason I'm cursed — it's a man. I fell in love with a demigod named Heracles and aided him in stealing a golden apple from the garden I'd sworn to protect."

"Heracles? _The_ Heracles?"

"You know of him?"

"Everyone does. He's the most famous demigod that ever lived."

"Oh. . . I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. But, being locked away from society, I've not really been able to keep up with the goings-on of the outside world."

"That has to be rough."

She shrugged. "Regardless, after. . . after _he_ accepted my aid and I gifted him Riptide, I never saw him again. He never gave me credit for helping him trick my father, and my sisters disowned me. And because of my choice, Atlas cursed me with this fate at the first opportunity — when I'd struggled to survive on my own and tried to go to him for forgiveness. I've been here ever since."

After taking a second to let her story sink in, Percy said, "How do I help you?"

She furrowed her brow. "What?"

"There has to be a way to lift the curse. I want to help you."

She shook her head solemnly. "There isn't."

"What if I killed the dragon?"

She laughed humorlessly. "It's impossible."

"It can't be."

"_It is_. The dragon — she breathes fire hot enough to melt stone; she moves at speeds too great to even comprehend; her scales are harder than metal. She cannot be slain."

The back of Percy's head thunked against the cave wall as he sighed helplessly. He was tired of not being able to help the people who deserved it. He was plenty adept at slaying monsters and defeating corrupt warmongers, but when it came to people relying on him, he never seemed able to give them the aid they required.

"So that's just it then?" he said. "You're trapped in here for all eternity, and there's nothing that can be done about it?"

"I came to terms with it a long time ago. You needn't fret for me, although it is rather touching."

Percy just sighed dejectedly.

"Why did you come here?" she asked. "How did you happen to find me?"

"I. . . I came here to speak to your father, actually."

She seemed only mildly surprised. "What for?"

"He knows something that's going to help me finish a quest. I flew here on my pegasus, and I guess some sort of magic drew him to your cave because we landed right outside."

"It must have been the same thing that drew me too close to the exit. I'd felt a primal pull, as if something significant were approaching."

She made eye contact while saying that and he broke it.

"What is it you need to learn from him?" she said.

"I need to find the scythe of Kronos," he answered. "Would you happen to. . .?"

She shook her head.

"Just as well," he said. "Looks like I'll have to talk to him anyway."

"I wish you luck with that. My father is a difficult man, with little love for heroes. I have doubt that he'll give you what you want without something in return."

"Like what?"

"Other than taking his burden from him? I couldn't tell you."

"I guess I'll just have to find a way to get it out of him." He got to his feet. "If you're feeling better now, I really should be —"

"Wait!" She hurriedly stood and took a step toward him. "I need to thank you."

"Oh, right."

"Only in part for the medicine. I cannot tell you how lonely it gets in here. Your company, even for this short while, is something I'm extremely grateful for."

"Yeah, well, I couldn't imagine having to —"

Suddenly she advanced and kissed him. One second passed, then two. His surprise cleared away just enough and he pushed her away, only using enough force to take her lips off his.

"What are you doing?" he said, attempting to retreat a step back from her but bumping into the wall.

She looked confused, and then hurt. "I. . . I thought. . ."

It took him a bit to regain himself. "I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression but —"

"Just go." She crossed her arms and turned her back to him.

"Zoë —"

"Go!"

And so it went. It was a sour poetry how often the people he wanted to help one way or another wound up hurt. It happened with the rebellion, who'd been slaughtered for accepting the freedom and amnesty he'd worked to grant them. He'd forgiven Titus and wanted him to have a happy ending after all the suffering he'd endured, but couldn't convince him to not turn himself in for desertion. He'd failed to save the Oracle of Delphi's daughter before she was murdered. He'd run off to Carthage in an attempt to free the missing Nico and Bianca, but not only were they already dead but three more innocent lives were lost because of that decision. Now he'd come to the aid of an injured girl and accidentally broken her heart. He had to wonder if he was cursed. When he eventually went with Reyna to help her search for her long lost sister, would something improbable occur that led to both their deaths? How could he ever possibly claim the title "Savior of Greece" when he'd failed to save even a single life?

He was being ridiculous — he knew that. He'd stopped Alabaster from killing a legionnaire at the ship raid. He'd discovered Marcus's treason and defeated him before he could assassinate the consuls. He couldn't even guess how many deaths he'd prevented by killing Luke and the traitorous rebels. Saying he'd never managed to save anyone was an exaggeration, but when things like this happened, he couldn't help but be reminded how many people he'd once held dear and how few of them were still alive.

He needed to learn how to stop himself from being so absorbed by previous events. He'd been so lost in his thoughts that he barely registered he'd made it to the top of the mountain. He had to figure out how to adapt to the past and start looking forward. He still had Reyna, and that's all that should really matter. As soon as he got the scythe he could return to her, tell her what happened with Zoë and apologize, then just focus on the future and the present. Life would be so much simpler if he didn't spend so much brain power wallowing in past misfortunes. He couldn't solve the crises of yesterday — only those of morrow and now.

The climb had been trivial with a mostly direct path up, only containing a few tricky ledges he had to clamber over. It probably hadn't even taken an hour to reach the peak, which surprised him. It had looked a lot more daunting from the bottom. It seemed likely that whatever magic this mountain possessed might have been at play there.

A relatively flat bit of land was what had awaited him at the peak. It seemed any and all remains of the Titans' base had been weathered into nonexistence over the millennia since the Titanomachy. Percy was thankful for that, as the tales stated that even Zeus had trembled at the sight of it. He'd never considered himself particularly cowardly, but he definitely didn't want to see anything that the king of the gods himself feared.

There was one bit of land raised slightly higher than the rest. The clouds above were jet black and all billowing down to that one point, forming a lumpy, swirling hemisphere stopped from touching the ground by only a man. He wore no more than a loincloth and was down on a single knee. The clouds rested on him, supported by his extraordinarily muscular arms, his palms facing up and at level with the top of his head. His face was contorted with obvious agony, and his eyelids looked heavy, as if he could fall asleep at any moment. Then he actually did.

His arms gave out and he fell forward. He would've landed on his face had he not caught himself. The sky dropped onto his back and his spine looked ready to snap like a twig. His eyes were shut, then a moment later they shot open as if he'd been hit with an instant night's rest. With a great effort, he pushed the sky back up above him and held it fast, but already his sudden energy seemed to be waning.

Percy took a deep breath and approached Atlas.

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to address this so no one complains. Zoë is completely different. She's not talking archaically. She didn't immediately hate Percy because he's a man. She's not a badass. Why is that? It's simple: it just wouldn't make sense at this point in time.**

**First of all, because of this story's setting, the English language doesn't exist. All dialogue is written in English because this is a story written in English, but they're always speaking either ancient Greek or Latin. Correct me if I'm wrong, but ancient Greek did not have a form of thee/thou vs you, or thy/thine vs your, etc. Her unique speaking style doesn't translate, so that explains that.**

**Second, her personality is different. Well, not really. I'd say more her personality hasn't yet developed. In canon, it's not her experience with Heracles that made her despise men — it was only the starting point. Joining the hunters and hearing all the stories the other hunters told her was what built up her distaste over time. And because she's yet to join the hunters, she's not learned and mastered all the skills she has in the books and not been through the experiences that gave her her hardened personality. I'm not going to say it's definitive that she really was how I wrote her in this chapter before becoming a hunter, but it _is _plausible, so that's the interpretation I went with.  
**


	40. XXXIX

The titan's energy ran dry and he collapsed to his hands again, the sky falling and landing on his back. His eyes closed, and he'd inevitably be crushed at any moment, but then they opened and he lifted the sky back onto his shoulders with a renewed vigor. His face was so contorted with pain and concentration that he didn't even notice Percy was standing before him.

"Atlas!" Percy said.

The titan's eyes focused. The sky slipped just slightly and he had to adjust his hand to keep hold of it. "Demigod," he spat.

"We need to talk."

"I'm rather pre. . . occupied at the. . . moment." He was fighting to keep his eyes open.

"Where is Kronos's scythe?"

"The. . . scythe. . ." The process repeated. He fell forward, catching himself with both hands. The sky fell onto his back and he fell asleep, then he woke up moments later and lifted it back into his palms.

His newly energized eyes showed confusion for a split second, and then hatred. "Demigod!"

"Where is the scythe?" Percy demanded.

"In Tartarus. Jump in and search for. . . it."

"Liar."

"And why should I. . . answer you. . . truthfully?"

"We can make an arrangement."

Atlas didn't hear him as, at that moment, the process looped again. Once he'd woken up and regained his grip, Percy repeated his response.

"There's only one thing you can offer me," Atlas said.

"I know what you want," said Percy. "It's off the table."

"Respite. One minute. . . ten seconds of respite. . . Grant me this and. . . I'll tell you. . . what you want."

"Right. The instant I take the sky from you, you'll just run off, or fall asleep indefinitely without your burden to wake you."

"Sleep. . ." Atlas said wistfully.

"There's got to be something else you want," said Percy.

Atlas fell asleep and woke up again, making Percy repeat himself.

"Not a single thing," said the titan.

Percy paced back and forth for a minute, thinking hard. The titan went through his cycle several more times before he came up with an idea. He stopped and faced Atlas, then waited for him to snap awake again before he spoke, choosing his words very carefully. "What if I could lift your condition permanently?"

"Impossible," Atlas replied. "Who would hold the sky in my. . . stead?"

"No one. I need to know where the scythe is. If I can get it, you won't be in this situation anymore."

"How?"

"I don't know for sure how it works, only that it will. After I get the scythe, you won't have to go through this anymore," Percy said vaguely.

"Why should. . . I. . . believe you?"

"Because I'm speaking the truth."

Atlas went through his loop again. Once awake, he snarled, "_Why_ should I believe you?"

"I swear I've spoken honestly."

"On the Styx."

Percy pretended to hesitate. "I swear on the Styx."

The sound of lightning striking through the clouds sounded directly above them, so loud it was deafening.

Atlas smiled between his grimaces. "We have a deal."

"Wait. I need something else from you."

"What is it?" Atlas said impatiently.

"Zoë."

"Who?"

"_Zoë_, your daughter."

"I have a. . . lot of daughters."

"Zoë, the Hesperide."

"Oh. . . _that_ one."

"I want her freed. You'll remove the dragon and grant her liberty. You won't bother her ever again."

"Fine, fine."

"I need you to swear it on the Styx. Include the scythe and free her immediately. Be precise."

Atlas took a deep breath, opened his mouth, then fell asleep. After recovering from the process again, he spoke. "I swear on the river Styx Zoë will be freed immediately and permanently, and I'll give you the true location of Kronos's scythe. There. Are we done now?"

There was another clap of thunder.

"Yes. Now, where is the scythe?"

"The Mare Nostrum."

"I can't search an entire sea."

"You'd search ten thousand years. . . and still fail if. . . you tried."

"Where exactly is it?"

"Give me. . . a minute."

Percy waited. Not long later, Atlas fell again and then lifted himself back up. He then said, "Aes eht ekahs llahs elttab ruo. Sutepai, uoy egnellahc i. Repeat those words near the center. . . and the way will reveal itself."

"What language is that? I've never heard it before."

"It's unimportant."

"What do you mean, 'the way will reveal itself'?"

"It'll be obvious. Enough. . . questions. I told you. . . what you. . . wanted. Go."

Percy had Atlas repeat the phrase a few more times in between his falling asleep/waking up loop before he had it committed to memory. Then, as soon as he was sure he had all that could be gotten from Atlas, he turned and left, leaving the titan to his misery. Percy set off down the mountain, rather pleased with himself. He'd managed to get everything he wanted from the titan while making him believe he wouldn't have to hold the sky anymore. Perhaps it was only because of how tired Atlas was that he'd been so susceptible to the trick, but he was still proud of himself nonetheless.

He made it about a third of the way down the mountain when he spotted a dark shadow in the sky, flying with massive wings at an incredible speed away from Mount Othrys without turning back.

* * *

Even flying way above the water, Percy felt entirely within his element. The sea breeze brushed against his skin, making it tingle pleasantly. He felt all the water down beneath him and could just imagine using it to his own ends. Most helpfully, he somehow flawlessly knew his bearings intuitively. He was able to nudge Blackjack in the right direction and have him fly directly toward the exact center of the Mare Nostrum with full confidence.

As they flew, he thought about Zoë, conflicted. That kiss had meant nothing to him, as his love for Reyna burned more potent than ever, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of sadness knowing that the two of them would never again meet. He'd gone back to the cave as soon as he'd finished descending the mountain, but it seemed as if she'd been made aware of her freedom before on her own, as he'd found her prison empty. He was both relieved and disappointed by that. On one hand, he avoided an awkward encounter, and on the other, he didn't get to see her again. He'd taken a liking to her and would have really liked another friend, considering how few he now had left. There was Reyna, who was way more than a friend, Leo, and maybe Annabeth if he could make amends with her. Caius had proven himself trustworthy, and Lars Caldus had him to thank for his life. Unfortunately, he'd probably severed all ties to legion friends when he deserted. In actuality, all he really had left to lose was Reyna, and he'd brave the depths of Tartarus to make sure that never happened.

"This is it," Percy eventually said.

Blackjack stopped flying immediately, proceeding to hover midair. "_I'll circle down._"

"No need." Percy moved his right leg over so that he was sitting on the pegasus sideways.

"_Wait, what are you doing?_" Blackjack asked with a panicked voice.

"Don't worry about it. Just wait for me to breach the surface. I'll try to be quick." With that, he jumped.

Strictly speaking, he'd never done anything like this before. He knew, of course, that from a certain height, water was worse at breaking your fall than stone. The farthest distance he'd ever fallen into a body of water from was one that anyone would have survived, not just children of Poseidon. But he was confident that no matter what he did, the sea wouldn't kill him. It was part of him; he practically had saltwater running in his veins. Even still, as he fell at an exhilarating speed, a small amount of fear began to well up in him. Had he just killed himself? Had he just doomed the entire Greek pantheon for nothing and left Reyna to mourn for both Jason and himself? What a cruel sense of irony that would be.

Thankfully, that momentary panic proved unfounded. When Percy hit the water feet first, he was pleased to find that every bone in his body _hadn't_ been shattered. On the contrary, he felt great. He was in the middle of the sea, all by himself. This was _his_ domain, which made him feel utterly relaxed. The water was freezing, but that didn't bother him in the slightest. He was comfortable. It was too bad there was little chance of it persisting all that long.

His head broke the surface and he said, slowly enough to make sure he got it right, "Aes eht ekahs llahs elttab ruo. Sutepai, uoy egnellahc i."

Instantly, a glowing ball appeared beneath the water. He dove down and kicked toward it, able to see and breathe as comfortably as ever. The ball of light moved in a line toward the ocean floor going west, proceeding at a gentle slope. Percy swam after it.

Several minutes passed before he and the ball of light arrived at what could almost be mistaken for a massive bird's nest. But it was made from coral and stone instead of sticks and leaves and could fit a hundred thousand eggs with room still to spare. It looked old and abandoned, and he hoped it stayed that way. He didn't want to face whatever monster had called this nest its home. The ball dove toward the middle of it, where there was a crevice just big enough to squeeze through. The ball disappeared through it, forcing Percy to follow after. The instant his head was beneath the crack, he began falling. The water no longer kept him afloat, and he dropped, thankfully a short distance, to the bottom of some sort of chamber.

He was dry, and looking up he could see a small hole in the roof from which he'd come. The water stopped there unnaturally, simply floating rather than filling the room. The ceiling was held high by four pillars, with two more reduced to rubble. There were cracks all over the marble walls from which hung torn tapestries and empty picture frames. He could see several torches and braziers across the chamber, but none of them were lit. At the end of the room stood a massive, half-broken throne made from dried coral, slightly offset from being centered as if another chair should stand beside it. A handful of rubble piles littered the room, and there were cracks and missing chunks spread over the walls, ceiling, and floor. Almost as plentiful as the rubble, though, were bones. Decomposed corpses littered the ground as well as their discarded weapons. Three dozen warriors — likely demigods — had to have died in here. Percy tried not to think about what might make him join them and instead continued cautiously examining his surroundings with his sword at the ready. He decided he was standing inside a ruined palace. For a brief moment of panic, he wondered if it was his father's, but then his eyes found something that proved otherwise.

The ball of light had been floating above something perfectly so that he didn't notice it. For several seconds he'd thought he stood alone in a throne room from a bygone age, then saw that there were two others in there with him. To his right, a pair of men with similar builds to Atlas lay on the floor, each with a hand on a long, leather-wrapped pole, at the end of which was a large, dark blade in the shape of a crescent moon. They looked to have been fighting over it before suddenly both falling unconscious, neither willing to let go during their forced slumber.

One man bore a resemblance to Neptune, but only in his attire and hair. His face looked a lot rougher, with skin set into a permanent scowl even in his sleep and had a lack of wrinkles that somehow made his great age more obvious. Even with his eyes closed, it felt like he was looking at him in contempt, dreaming up some cruel fate for him for invading his territory. The other man's sleeping face was a lot less sinister, the glowing ball hovering directly over it. It took on a similar shape as the other's but looked almost peaceful and innocent, yet Percy could still imagine the cruelty he'd be happy to inflict should he awake. He did not recognize him and couldn't place his name, but knew for a certainty that the other was Oceanus.

The air around the scythe pulsed with an invisible, powerful energy that seemed to be trying to pull him in. He felt a sense of dread settle over him while staring at it. The scythe was evil incarnate. It was terrible, and he was afraid of it, growing more so by the second. His job was to retrieve it, but he had a primal instinct within himself telling him not to go near it. He didn't know why, but he suspected that even touching the handle would either kill him or drive him insane.

He looked around helplessly at the long-dead demigods who'd been given the same quest he was now on. When they'd come here, the titans would have been awake. Had they killed them outright, or pretended to allow them to take the scythe just for them to fall upon attempting to do so? He had a significant advantage on all of them by coming here while the titans were forced to sleep like the gods, but it seemed he was still destined to fail.

Percy put as much distance as he could between himself and the objective while he thought. He'd discovered a solid section of floor that didn't have any skeletons on it and sat down. For several minutes Percy pondered helplessly before becoming aware of his hunger. This wasn't exactly the time to eat, but it wasn't like he had much else to do while he thought. His hand hovered over the satchel Vesta had given him before moving onto his own. He rummaged around for some jerky, deciding to save the good kind for another time. He didn't get a chance to eat it though, as his hand nudged against something hard. He picked it up and looked at it for less than a second before suddenly standing up in his excitement. In his hand, he held a small black box.

Back in Neapoli, he'd been compelled by Vesta to ask Leo if he could take this item from his workshop. He'd never given it another thought since. He'd stuffed it into his satchel and forgot about its existence until this very moment.

Percy opened the lid and approached the dangerous weapon, a sickening feeling in his stomach becoming more prominent the nearer he got to it. He considered how to get it inside the box for a while, trying a few different things. Percy held the box out toward it, hoping the scythe would just get sucked in, but nothing happened. He tried throwing the box at it, but it bounced off harmlessly. Finally, he had to try the riskiest option. He walked right up next to the blade and very carefully put the tip of it inside the box. Impossibly, it never hit the back of it. He pushed the box all the way along the blade, and it disappeared inside it. Even the parts that were wider than the opening somehow slid inside without a fuss. He then maneuvered it around to get the handle and that was consumed too, after he'd wrenched the two titans' hands off of it. Soon enough, the box snapped closed, and the scythe was gone. Percy placed it into his satchel and was pleased to find that its magic wasn't at all affecting him.

Now that he had the scythe, he realized he didn't have a way of leaving this place. He tried to flood the room by focusing on the hole in the ceiling, but although he felt the water obeying him, it was stopped from going any lower by some kind of invisible force. He looked to the wall opposite the throne and noticed there was a door there obscured by piles of rubble. Unfortunately, after spending a considerable amount of time clearing away the debris, he found the door impossible to open. There were no other exits, which meant he was trapped.

Percy glanced at the glowing ball, still floating above the nameless titan's head. "A little help?"

The ball did not react.

He gauged the height of the ceiling. It stood three times taller than him, which would make it impossible to jump up to the hole. The throne might have been big enough to give him the boost he needed, but it was too far away. He attempted to move it only to find that it either weighed too much or was fixed to the floor. Either way, that idea was out of the question. With a bit of struggle, though, he was able to push a decently large piece of collapsed pillar directly beneath it, but it still wasn't tall enough. So he then spent a sizable portion of an hour piling up rocks around it from across the room before he was confident he'd built it tall enough. He was sore, as a lot of the marble proved very heavy, but the pain would lessen if he could just get to the water.

It was difficult to climb to the top of the pile without too much sliding down, but he managed it. He stood at the peak of his makeshift mountain and extended his hand up; the ceiling was still not within reach. He'd have to jump, but all he needed was for his fingers to make contact with the water. He found the steadiest foothold he could, bent his knees, trained his eyes on his target, and launched himself into the air with his hand outstretched. His longest finger came close, but sadly remained dry. He fell back down and slipped on the stone heap he'd built. His feet slid out from beneath him, and he rolled all the way down until his back collided painfully with one of the still-standing pillars, many chunks of stone coming down with him.

For a minute, he laid there, groaning in pain and regretting the decisions he'd made that had brought him here. He was bruised and battered and might have even broken something. He was more convinced of that when he finally tried to sit up, just to be met with a searing pain shooting throughout his body that crippled his movement. He laid still, then let out an ironic chuckle. _This_ was his toughest challenge. It wasn't facing Luke, Marcus, or an entire homestead of murderous demigods, or even the countless monsters he'd slain in his lifetime. No, a mound of rocks had dealt him a severe blow in record time, which objectively made it his strongest enemy.

Carefully, he dug his hand inside Vesta's satchel and pulled out a cube of ambrosia. If there was ever a time to use one, it was now. He popped it into his mouth and began chewing something so indescribably delicious he couldn't have possibly put it into words. Saying it was an amalgamation of every taste he'd ever enjoyed that blended together in a way so as to enhance every individual flavor without ruining any of them didn't even begin to do it justice, although it was about as close as you could get. Eating the cube itself brought about more pleasure than the relief from the intense pain that had begun to rapidly fade away. It was safe to say that ambrosia had earned its title of "food of the gods".

A few minutes later, all agony had subsided, and he felt fresh and ready to try again. After replacing the rocks that had fallen back onto the pile where they belonged, Percy climbed back to the top and set himself into position. He took a deep breath, practiced what he was about to do in his head, and then failed another time. Percy was a lot luckier in the second fall, not hitting a pillar and merely sliding down to the bottom with only a few scrapes and bruises to show for it. He looked around the room, but he'd already gathered every last bit of debris and literally couldn't build the tiny mountain any higher. He could try and _make_ some more rocks, but the toughest thing he had was his sword, which would sooner break than produce enough stone to make a difference. Plus, he didn't want to test his luck. Destroying one more pillar or the right section of the wall could be enough to bring the entire ceiling down, which would only save him from starving to death by killing him quickly. Unfortunately, he had to just keep trying with what he had until he got it right.

It was on attempt number four that he finally succeeded and conquered his foe. The third had gone slightly better than the first two, but still wasn't enough. He'd tried throwing a small rock through the hole afterward, hoping it'd come back wet, but that experiment hadn't worked. Its momentum carried it up through the water a ways before gently floating back down, dropping into his hand completely dry. His hope had been to bring enough water down little by little to give him the edge he needed, but he wound up tossing the stone aside disappointedly. So instead, he steeled himself for the next attempt. Once more, he took a deep breath, made sure he had a good foothold, and then leaped toward the ceiling with his hand outstretched. His fingers broke the surface of the water, which instantly bent to his whim and yanked him upward. He shot up and away from the ruined palace and the monster's nest, finally free.

From there, getting back to Blackjack was trivial. Underwater, his eyesight was as sharp as a hawk's, so he'd only needed to make it halfway to the surface before being able to spot a small dot circling in the sky. Percy willed the sea to make him rise as quickly as he possibly could. When he reached the surface, he didn't stop ascending. His momentum carried him way above sea level, bringing him rapidly closer to Blackjack. He soon began to slow and stopped rising right when his pegasus swooped down to catch him. He landed on his back flawlessly, ready to go.

"_You are completely insane!_" Blackjack told him with a hint of admiration in his voice.

Percy was grinning like a madman. "Gods, I love the sea."

"_You're insane, Boss,_" Blackjack said again.

"Noted. I got the scythe. Let's get back to Olympus."

Blackjack sighed. "_On it, Boss_."

* * *

When they ascended through the clouds, and the city of the gods came into view, Percy saw a different sight than he was expecting. While the decrepit, slowly dying city he'd departed from was still there, it was mostly unrecognizable due to the Roman gods having set up camp. The buildings had all been left alone, probably because they likely housed sleeping Greek gods, but numerous tents had been set up wherever there was available ground. They were silken, laced, and embroidered with golden thread to help identify their owners. The elegance of even the smallest tent — which was about two thirds the size of the Curia Hostilia — far exceeded the standards that an emperor might demand. After Blackjack had landed and Percy dismounted, he began walking by the tents and was able to see the interior of one. Somehow it looked even more luxurious on the inside, outfitted with fancy furniture, rugs, candles, tapestries, and anything else you could ever want to furnish a home. That one tent looked more homely than any house he'd ever been in, although he could safely say he'd rather sleep on the ground with Reyna than alone in there. Fancy tents were nice and all, but there was no home without her.

As Percy casually journeyed between the tents toward Zeus's palace, more of the gods who'd been milling about stopped what they were doing to watch him. He didn't turn around, but he suspected a fair amount were even following a distance behind him. Percy tried not to think about it, though, opting to keep his eyes forward. He didn't recognize any of the gods he walked by but did spot one tent that had Bellona's symbol on it. The goddess herself was nowhere to be seen and the entrance was closed, so it could be presumed she was inside, possibly even with Reyna, but he didn't stop to check. Percy continued on and reached the palace without seeing a single Olympian or their tent. Once he entered, he found out why.

A table had been set up near the middle of the throne room a few paces away from where Hestia lay sleeping. Jupiter was at the head of it with the other eleven Olympians seated as well plus Pluto and Vesta. A handful of other minor gods were standing behind them, including a massive wolf with deep red fur, watching quietly in the corner. The Fates and Reyna were both missing. When Percy walked in, the gods were arguing animatedly, so enthralled by the discussion that they didn't even notice him. Finally, Vesta did and pointed him out to Jupiter, who immediately called for silence.

The Roman king of the gods stared at him pointedly. "You've returned," he said.

"And swiftly," Juno added with an impressed tone.

"I have." Percy drew out the black box and tossed it toward Jupiter, who caught it deftly.

The king opened the box and peeked inside for only a second before closing it and setting it down on the table. He stood, and the rest of the gods copied his movement. A tense silence followed where no one moved and Jupiter's eyes never left Percy.

He heard footsteps behind him but didn't dare look away. Gods walked past him to stand with their peers, Bellona among them. They took their places and switched between staring at Percy and Jupiter. He began to waver under all of their gazes, but stood his ground. He felt someone's hand slip into his, and he squeezed it gratefully, knowing it was Reyna's. Perhaps she could sense his nervousness, as a warm energy spread through him from where their skin touched, calming his nerves. One goddess, so beautiful that she could only be Aphrodite's equivalent — he couldn't recall her name — smiled slightly at them with sparkling eyes. Finally, Jupiter sighed.

"So be it," he said in a resigned tone.

Suddenly, a flash of light filled the room. The table and chairs vanished, and the Three Moirai took their place in the middle of the gods. They stood in a circle with their backs facing each other so that together they could see the entire room. Their hands were clasped and missing their thread and tools, so Percy could only tell them apart by remembering the color of their robes. All three opened their mouths and spoke as one.

"Jupiter," they said. "The offerings have been exchanged. Do you invoke the ancient law of unity?"

Jupiter took a deep breath and said, "I do."

"Romans," they continued. "Do you allow him to speak for you?"

In response, they got a fair amount of yeses, "we do"s, and nods, which made a majority. No one spoke in opposition, but a handful chose to remain silent.

"Then we can begin," said the Fates.


	41. XL

Percy didn't look, but he could hear the doors slam shut behind him. The Fates closed their eyes and began to chant with incoherent words he couldn't understand, but for some reason sounded familiar. The hairs on his arms stood on end as the temperature in the room noticeably dropped. His tunic, still ripped from when he'd made bandages for Jason's arm, began to flap as wind blew around the room out of nowhere. The gods retreated several steps, giving the Fates space, and Percy found himself and Reyna doing the same. Unintelligible words began writing themselves on the ground beneath the Moirais' feet, spreading out in the shape of arms in a spiral. The text glowed, and Percy remembered it from the Hollow. A green tinge seeped into the air, its currents becoming visible as the same smoke from the Temple of Apollo leaked into the room.

Then he collapsed to his knees, his fingers suddenly digging into his scalp while he cried out in pain. He felt as if someone had dug their fingers into his eye sockets and squeezed as hard as they could. Visions swam rapidly through his mind, one after the other. He couldn't hear the chanting, see the gods, or feel anything other than the pain.

He saw two underwater cities, one grander than Olympus and the other slowly falling to pieces. Then a vortex appeared, blocking them both from view. It raged violently for several seconds before rapidly calming down until it fully dissipated, revealing the two cities to be gone, now replaced by an even greater one that seemed a blend of both their styles. Then he was no longer underwater. He saw a rift, a massive crack in the ground dividing two lands of darkness. A black palace stood on either side, each surrounded by three fields; again, one was crumbling while the other prospered. The ground began to shake, and rocks fell from a ceiling too high to see. The palaces started to drift toward each other, the chasm closing. When the tremor was finished, the rift was gone, and the castles were one, the lands and fields combined. Last, he saw two clouds of equal size from below. One trickled feebly, a spark of lightning rarely illuminating it in white light while the other crackled and poured in a raging storm. The two clouds began to drift together, both rapidly shooting off arcs of lightning at each other in increasing intensity the nearer they got. Soon they touched and swirled together until there was only one cloud of doubled size. The rain turned to hail, and electricity sparkled from within ceaselessly. Then the cloud let loose one massive, ultimate blast of energy directly at him.

The visions stopped, and the pain ceased. He took a moment to regain his composure before noticing the silence — the chanting had finished. Looking around he could see only the Fates and the sleeping Greeks, the Romans and even the spiral of text missing. He looked to his side and saw Reyna down on one knee in a sweat, one hand clutching her forehead while the other held the ground for support. She must've experienced as much pain as he had, but it looked to alleviate before he had the chance to worry. She looked around, obviously as confused as he was.

"What just happened?" she muttered.

"A distraction, for your mortal eyes," Clotho answered, even though she should have been too far away to hear the question.

"You shan't have survived bearing witness to the ritual," said Atropos.

"Then why didn't you just have us wait outside?" Percy asked.

"Because then you wouldn't have been able to comprehend," said Lachesis.

"Comprehend what?"

"Unity," the Fates said as one.

Percy was still confused and was about to state as such, but then his eyes seemed to focus better. He saw that he wasn't in the same palace anymore. The throne room he now stood in was a lot more spacious. The walls bore not even the smallest crack and were colored snow white instead of the previous dull grey. The hearth in the center was about twice its size, although it remained unlit. The gods, condition unchanged, slept in different thrones as well. Before they'd been uniquely styled, but more or less the same. Now each one was completely customized for their occupants. Hephaestus's was constructed out of primarily metal with gears and other mechanical parts. Zeus's was made from solid gold and intricately etched with finely detailed images. Dionysus's was woven entirely out of grapevines, and Poseidon's looked to have been carved out of a massive pearl.

"Where did the Romans go?" Percy said, then gestured at the sleeping gods. "Why aren't _they _awake?"

"Have patience, demigod," said Atropos.

"Ancient laws are no simple matter," said Lachesis.

"But unity _has_ been achieved, thanks to your efforts," said Clotho.

They waited, and the gods eventually began to stir. Percy's eyes were on his father. His heart started beating faster, and his hand had found its way back to Reyna's. The gears on Hephaestus's throne began to spin, and other parts moved as well. A small ember appeared in the hearth that quickly spread, soon turning into a flame. The wood ignited and then burst out into a full blaze. The goddess laying next to it got to her feet, burning eyes open, and the other gods soon followed suit. They all looked dazed and mostly confused, but they were awake.

"Welcome back to the world," said the Fates.

Zeus's eyes snapped to them at the sound of their voices. He stepped forward, then stumbled. His entire form flickered. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, so it was hard to be sure, but Percy swore that he had looked like Jupiter just then. He tripped and changed shape momentarily once more, then a third time which sent him falling back into his throne. The other gods then began experiencing the same thing. They had trouble keeping balance as they blinked between two different forms. Only Hestia didn't seem affected.

"Stop this!" Zeus yelled, seemingly at no one in particular.

Then he changed once more, but it wasn't a flicker this time. Jupiter sat in his place.

"You repay me for saving you by fighting?" said the Roman king indignantly.

He turned back into Zeus. "I will not wake to be your servant!"

Realization struck him like a brick. Percy knew what unity was, and was so dumbfounded that he didn't even see Hestia walk over to them. She changed into Vesta and put a hand on both his and Reyna's shoulders.

"Come," she said. "It'll take some time for them to adjust."

She led the two of them out of the palace and into a new city of the gods, Zeus/Jupiter still arguing with himself (Themselves? Each other?) behind them. Olympus was dying and decrepit no longer. The tents were gone, buildings larger and more pristine, grass greener and flora more plentiful. The roads were more ornately paved with some kind of metal akin to silver, but more precious, filling the linings of the bricks. Everything just looked so impossibly grand that it was awe-inspiring. The city no longer appeared strictly Greek as it had before. Instead, all of the buildings seemed to mix the architectural styles of both Rome and Greece perfectly, and no building looked more like one than the other. He had to wonder if those visions he'd seen were more literal than symbolic, and that he was now standing on the one and only Olympus.

He and Reyna continued following Vesta away from the palace. He could see a couple minor gods leaving their homes, apparently having taken little time to adapt to the change.

"I — _we,_" said Vesta, "will also need to adjust, as this is new for all of us. But we — that is to say, Hestia and myself — were more or less prepared for this. I cannot say the same for the others."

"So. . ." said Reyna. "All of the gods have. . . merged?"

"Not just the gods. It's more complicated than that. It's not just about Hestia and me, Jupiter and Zeus, Neptune and Poseidon, et cetera sharing bodies. It's about the two pantheons as a whole becoming united and the unification of all domains. All of the seas are now governed by one being, and the same applies to all of the Underworld and all of the heavens. If all unity meant was simply making two equivalent gods one, all that would have happened is the Roman gods would share in the Greeks' curse."

"I don't get it," said Percy.

"Let's sit."

They reached a round pavilion filled with tables and seating. The braziers lining it lit up one after the other the instant Vesta stepped into it. She picked a bench without a table and sat, gesturing for them to do as she had.

"There are special cases that wouldn't survive the forced slumber had the cure to it been just merging with their counterpart from the other pantheon," Vesta explained after they sat down. "Janus, for instance, is — _was _— unique to Rome. The Greeks do not worship an equivalent to him, so he did not unite with anyone, but he'll still survive the inevitable fall of Rome, whenever that may be. The same can be said for Lupa and several others. Similarly, Phorcys was never adopted by the Romans, so he also did not unite with anyone, but he'll still wake if he hasn't done so already. Hercules is a complete idiosyncrasy, in that he did not have a counterpart but is worshipped by both Greeks and Romans all the same. In fact, he's the only Greek god that did not fall asleep, as he'd renounced the name Heracles during the rise of Rome and declared himself a Roman god, joining our pantheon."

"He can do that?" said Reyna.

"He alone could, not that his decision means much anymore."

"I'm sorry, but," said Percy, "I still don't really get what you're trying to say. What _exactly_ is 'unity'?"

"It's not easy to explain, but I'll try. Ancient laws are less verbose than human laws. They're a lot harder to understand, as they're not written. They are not worded rules that gods and men have to follow, but primal powers of the universe that bind reality. The basic premise of the ancient law of unity deals with the paradoxical nature of two nearly identical pantheons existing at once. So long as they remain separate, the world and its powers are divided. A Greek worshipper would not meet a Roman worshipper in the afterlife. A mortal favored by Poseidon could not be guaranteed a safe voyage if he's not also favored by Neptune. Zeus could want a storm over Rome while Jupiter wishes it to be sunny. Unity is not something that was just now put into effect to combine the pantheons; it is something that was always active, helping to ensure that chaos does not result from these contradictions. The law as a whole is inappropriately named, as only a small aspect of it deals with the unification of two pantheons. That part is more easily understandable and a lot more simplistic — should both sides make a peace offering to one another, either can invoke the law and make the two pantheons become one. Are you with me so far?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Percy.

Reyna's brow was knitted in that way she does whenever she's thinking hard about something. A nod was her only response.

"Now that unity has been achieved, and only one pantheon exists, all powers are combined and controlled by one body of gods. But this was not possible without many compromises. For true unity, we cannot have things in twos. There cannot be two kings, despite Rome's current beliefs with its system of government. There cannot be two goddesses of the hearth, and there cannot be two gods of the sea. Even if we shared a city and stood side by side, powers would still be divided. _One_ being must control an entire domain for true balance. So this is why we had to combine with our counterparts."

"So, if you're 'one being'," said Reyna, "is Hestia. . .?"

Vesta morphed into the Greek counterpart in question. "I'm still here. Thank you for bringing that up. There are now two minds in one head. Vesta and myself are one goddess, but also two. This is a contradiction, and because of that, the law of unity is more necessary now than ever. Our experiences are largely identical, as are our personalities, interests, and thought processes, but I can see our slight differences clearer than ever before. We are distinct from one another, more so than I once believed, and therefore it'll take some time for us to fully merge. I daresay soon enough we'll be as close as a madman is with his split personality. Eventually, we may even sync up entirely, and we'll truly be one. I imagine I am not overstepping my bounds by assuming my description of the situation applies just as aptly to the rest of my peers."

"This is starting to make sense, but. . ." Reyna said.

"You're still missing information," Hestia finished for her.

Percy nodded in agreement.

"I'll try to be as succinct as possible," the goddess continued. "Power and belief are resources, limited like any other. There is only so much among the gods, and so many ways it can be split. They cannot be expended, as wealth or food can, but they are necessary for our survival. Power is divided between the two pantheons. It is divided again amongst the deities of each pantheon, but it is still connected. Power as a whole was divided equally between the two pantheons, while belief was dependent on mortals. After the enactment of Rome's policies following the fall of Greece, the Greek gods had less worship and consequently less power, yet the Roman gods' power stayed the same. Should the Romans have failed to invoke unity, the Greeks would have faded, and their power would disappear, leaving only half in the world. Then Rome would fall, and the remaining gods would be too weak to survive. Invoking unity merged the two powers as one, creating one interconnected pool that all deities draw from. So even should belief grow too thin, we're strong enough together to persist regardless.

"That's the simplest I can put it. Obviously, it's a lot more complicated than having one resource called 'power', as there are varying forms, and it's all intangible — challenging for a mortal mind to comprehend. In reality, every god draws power from different sources — their domains — while power as a whole is still shared. As a result, every _source_ of power was combined, but this was impossible while two beings drew from a single one. Myself and Vesta could not separately draw from the same source, so we merged. This applies not only to gods, but titans, primordials, and other deities as well. The conjoining of individual gods was a side-effect, not the primary goal. Do you understand now?"

"For the most part," said Percy, "but you said two gods couldn't have the same domain, and that's why they merged. But in each pantheon, there are multiple war gods, for instance. Ares, Athena, Enyo —"

"Domains are also more complex than that. War is but a word. War, in essence, has many aspects to it, which are divided among those gods you named. Athena personifies strategy, tactics, and warfare; Enyo personifies destruction, carnage, and bloodlust; Ares personifies conflict, battle, and rivalries. Just because there are multiple war gods or multiple sea gods doesn't mean these gods have the same domains."

"Oh."

"Is there anything else I've failed to explain?"

"Only one thing," Reyna said. "Why now? If unity is so beneficial, why did you never make the offerings and invoke it before?"

Vesta replaced Hestia. "Many reasons — none of them great. Both sides wanted to feel superior to the other. Neither wanted to admit they needed one another. In essence, it was hubris. Should the Romans have made a peace offering a thousand years ago and the Greeks made theirs today, it'd make no difference. It was because of this simplicity that a silent agreement was made never to acknowledge the existence of two pantheons. We all knew we had counterparts, but refused to concede that fact. Admitting it would open us up to vulnerability. Should the two pantheons declare themselves either enemy or ally, it opens the way for trickery and deceit. It creates the possibility that just one rogue from both sides makes the offering, in which case either party could invoke unity against the other's will. But so long as there is 'officially' only one pantheon, unity stands as no more than a threat to one's own solidarity of mind, so there was never an incentive."

"But why not even when the Greeks started to fall asleep?" Percy asked.

The goddess changed back to Hestia, who shrugged. "Zeus was stubborn. I had no choice but to scheme to make it happen after he'd already gone under. He'll probably be angry for a time because I went behind his back, but he could never stay mad at me for long. Jupiter only jumped at the invitation to the now non-existent Greek Olympus because he didn't see the harm in declaring superiority over us if we were already asleep. Little did he know that his wife and Jason had already made Rome's offering, and you and I had made Greece's."

It was a lot to process. Half an hour passed, and Percy was still digesting all the information he'd been presented with. The two goddesses — one goddess, wait, no — had broken it down very well. He understood everything they/she had told them, but it still took some time for him to piece it all together with everything that he knew and experienced before today. He almost wished she had lied and made it sound a lot more convoluted than it actually was. It was difficult to accept that everything had been leading up to the culmination of this decade long issue, yet the solution had been something so simple — each side gives a gift and the Fates do a fancy ritual and that's it. In truth, it actually _was _more complicated than that, since it relies entirely upon godly politics which is a headache in and of itself. So it was both simple and complex — another contradiction.

While Reyna and he processed, bouncing thoughts off of one another from time to time, Olympus livened up surprisingly quickly. Minor gods emerged from their homes looking well; others appeared in flashes of light. Some found each other and struck up conversations while others went toward Zeus/Jupiter's palace. Soon enough, its doors opened permanently and didn't shut. Apollo even descended with a dazzling grin, waving and complimenting the gods he passed — Percy couldn't tell if he was his Greek or Roman counterpart. The Olympian gathered nine women under a gazebo near the center of the city, drew his bow from his back, which promptly turned into a harp, and then led them in a song that carried over the entire city. It was a joyful melody that made Percy feel nostalgic even though he'd never heard it before. It reminded him of home and the people he'd lost, inciting him to feel proud of the virtues they'd stood for and the people they were, rather than sad about the manners of their deaths. Some gods even began dancing while others just drank wine from the kegs Dionysus/Bacchus had snapped into existence.

"It seems the festivities have begun," said Hestia.

"Festivities?" said Reyna.

Hestia turned into Vesta. "Of course. This is a cause for celebration, after all. This decision is bound to be controversial and fraught with antipathy, but for the time being, the gods have been saved. Most of them have compromised enough with their counterparts to throw a party. You should join in."

Percy had not been expecting to attend a party of all things. Jason was dead. Celebrating was the last thing on his mind. He just wanted to take some time alone with Reyna to deal with everything that had happened. But, even as he was thinking this, the music filled him with a strange sense of optimism. Perhaps it _was_ a time to celebrate — Jason's life, his deeds, and his sacrifice. He'd willingly died for this quest, and now it had officially succeeded. It was time to be happy, to enjoy the victory — at least for a little while. He could be sad later.

Reyna got to her feet and stood in front of him, extending him her hand. "Let's go. Your father will probably want to see you."

He stared at her hand, suddenly nervous. "Right. My father."

She waited patiently. After spending a few moments psyching himself up, Percy grabbed her hand, stood, and then kissed her. He felt her smiling while it lasted, her other hand resting on his shoulder. He pulled away and smiled gratefully before turning off toward the palace, not letting go of her hand.

Inside the palace, the music could be heard just as loudly as before. All of the torches and braziers had been ignited and were burning in varying colors. A handful of tables had been set up, including one long one which was piled with luxury foods and drinks, ambrosia and nectar only making up a small part of the assortment. The Fates were nowhere to be seen, which Percy was glad for. The war gods were all seated around one table while Ares and Mars attempted to arm wrestle each other. Dionysus/Bacchus was kicked back with a goblet in his hand while telling some sort of grand tale to a group of gods, a man who could only be Hercules himself being the only one who appeared to be really listening to him. Aphrodite/Venus — he remembered her name! — was pretending to be uninterested by the male gods trying to chat her up, but was clearly reveling in the attention. Even Hades/Pluto looked to be having a lively discussion with Hecate/whoever her Roman counterpart was. In fact, the only ones who didn't seem to be enjoying themselves were the wolf goddess Lupa, who was off brooding by herself in a corner (in all fairness, it was difficult to accurately read her emotions) and Jupiter/Zeus, who was sitting in his throne and merely spectating.

As they walked in, the king met Percy's eyes, but didn't make any attempt to talk to him. Percy looked around for a bit before finally spotting his father off to the side having a conversation with Vesta, who'd somehow made it there before them. Percy let go of Reyna's hand because his was starting to get sweaty. He began to walk toward the god of the sea but was intercepted by someone only a second later.

"Perseus, Reyna Arellano," said Hades. He looked a lot like Pluto, but the differences were clear enough to deduce which he was.

"Lord Hades." Percy bowed respectfully.

Reyna did the same.

"I believe I owe you my thanks," said the god. "It is due to your efforts that I am standing here, after all. But as for Jason Grace, I can only offer my condolences."

Percy didn't have a response.

"Thank you, Lord Hades," Reyna said after a pause.

"I felt that the two of you deserved to know that I shall be seeing to it that your friend goes directly to Elysium where he belongs, and where he'll meet his sister. The gods shan't forget his sacrifice." Hades met Percy's eyes. "May he _requiescat in pace_."

The god of the dead then transformed into Pluto, who told Reyna her mother wished to talk to her again, and then promptly walked away.

"Again?" Reyna said.

"You don't sound pleased," Percy commented.

She sighed. "All she did while you were away was lecture me and refuse to talk about Hylla. I don't want any more of that right now."

"Maybe it'll be different this time. Enyo's in there too, now."

"Yes, that'll be beneficial," she said sarcastically. "My already distant mother now has a second goddess of carnage in her head — that should help her be more maternal."

"Fair point. I wouldn't turn her down, though."

"Neither shall I. Good luck." Reyna kissed him on the cheek and then split off toward the war gods' table.

By the time Percy reached his father, Vesta had finished her conversation with him and disappeared somewhere. So, Percy took a deep breath and approached him. Poseidon saw him immediately and gave a welcoming smile, but almost looked apprehensive. Percy didn't know whether he imagined that part.

"Uh, hi da — oh!"

Percy had begun speaking in a small voice but hadn't gotten the chance to finish, as the moment he was in range, his father had pulled him into a tight hug. Several moments passed before Percy regained himself and hugged him back. He felt the urge to weep; he _should_ be crying right now, with tears of both joy and sadness. But with everything that had happened in so short a time, it seemed his tears had run dry.

"My son," Poseidon said through a sad smile after breaking the embrace. "There are so many things I want to say to you and so little time to say it in. I'm just so sorry for the things you've had to endure, the tragedies. Your mother. . . such a horrible end for such an incredible woman."

"Were you. . . watching?" said Percy, surprised he could speak in a steady voice.

"I was dreaming while under. I assume the rest were too. I watched you grow, suffer, survive, fall in love twice — a daughter of Athena being one of them, of all people. At least that's over."

"Did you just —?"

"But Reyna seems an excellent match for you. Another daughter of a war goddess; it seems you have a type."

Percy's cheeks reddened. "Do we have to talk about _this_?"

"I can see you really love her. Tell me — do you intend to marry her?"

That image came into his mind again; he saw it more clearly than ever before. He and Reyna sat cuddled up together on a couch inside a home they owned — it could have been located anywhere. A hearth was burning warmly in front of them to show that Vesta was still watching over him. A toddler with Percy's green eyes and Reyna's facial features was joyfully swinging around a wooden sword, putting up a real fight against the wall while his mother laughed. His name was Jason — his name _would_ be Jason.

"I do," Percy answered.

His father smiled, then turned up his palm between them. "Then, I have a gift for you, to give to her."

A dazzling pearl necklace appeared in his hand on a piece of fabric. Percy stared at it for a moment, then took it after Poseidon nodded encouragingly. He carefully wrapped it up and stowed it away.

"She's Roman," his father said, "so I doubt you'll be tossing her any apples. I'm sure she'll appreciate this more."

"Thanks. But you'd really prefer I marry a Roman than — wait, can we go back to the part where you said _Athena_ was Annabeth's mother?"

"You never even suspected? With that girl's brains, it should have been a safe assumption."

"Annabeth doesn't like assumptions."

The sea god frowned. "I haven't spoken to Athena yet — I can't bear to face her. She was unbearable enough before, but two of our children being an item will take some time to forget. But as for the marrying a Roman thing, that's one grudge I won't be able to hold with Neptune in here." He knocked on the side of his skull. "I'll concede that Greece wasn't doing itself any favors when Rome swept in, and we didn't do as much as we could have to stop it."

"You know. . . I still get angry sometimes — remember why I was in the rebellion in the first place."

"But deep down, you understand that this is a best-case scenario. Greece had peaked and begun to decline long before you were born, and it was never going to rise back up. Rome may not have had noble intentions in conquering our land, but that doesn't change the fact that they did our people a favor. You see the parallel between that and the rebellion, don't you?"

It took Percy a second. "Yeah. Bad intentions and evil deeds happened to turn out for the best. If Luke hadn't done the things he did, I might never have gone over to Rome. I might never have seen Reyna and Jason again, and never brought about the deal that made Rome repeal its oppressive policies."

"Indeed. I know you wish you could have gotten where you are without so much bloodshed —"

"I was naive. Nothing ever gets done without bloodshed."

Poseidon gave him a sad look. "It would seem that way, but that doesn't mean you should actively seek it out —"

"I won't."

"— or stop trying to avoid it."

"I won't," Percy repeated, his voice strong and eyes fierce with determination. "Because I finally know what I fight for. It's not just one cause I can support, one army or another, these people over those people. I fight for the betterment of all people, and the longevity of everyone's lives — because _that's_ what's right. In the past, I believed I could get everything I wanted without a drop of blood being spilled, but that was impossible from the beginning. Lives will always be lost and cut too short, but that doesn't mean doing everything in your power to mitigate it doesn't achieve anything."

His father smiled with twinkling eyes. "I'm so proud of you, Perseus. Words can't express how much. Wherever you choose to go and whatever you decide to do, I'll support you. I wish I could have been a part of your life and wish I could be the father you deserve, but alas, this isn't the case."

Percy's brow furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Poseidon sighed. "It's. . . complicated. There are rules, consequences, to meddling in mortal affairs. Gods aren't meant to grow close to their demigod children. That's why you have no siblings — I try to avoid more disappointment. I'll not be able to speak to you as much as I'd like to or be there whenever you might need me."

"Oh," Percy said dejectedly.

"I will still be watching, though. I'll see you from time to time when I'm able, too, so don't think we need to say goodbye. You're my son, now and always."

Percy smiled, despite the disappointing news. "Thanks, dad."

"As much as I'd love to talk for hours, I don't want to steal you for too long. There are others who wish to speak with you."

"Who?"

"Hermes, to name one. Both Jupiter and Zeus refuse to admit it, but they have things they wish to say to you as well."

"Why would Hermes —? Oh."

"I promise I won't let him harm you."

"That's reassuring. But I wanted to ask you something first."

"To delay your awkward conversations?"

Percy smirked. "That's a benefit. But. . . why do gods keep calling me the 'Savior of Greece'? I don't get it. You said Greece will never rise again. Is it just referring to waking the Greek pantheon?"

"Only in part. We gods will remain Greek and Roman, and those cultures will follow us as civilization expands across the world. Mortal customs will change, and they'll have long since labeled our pantheons as mythologies, but tiny pieces of Greece will still exist everywhere. And our true culture and customs will survive in full with future demigods, who'll live both in their present world — which will have evolved to be unrecognizable — and ours. If you'd have let us fade, Greece as we know it eventually would too. History will have forgotten us and moved on. The descendants of today's Greeks would still live in the same lands with the same labels, but the spirit of Greece would have been long since dead, never to be revived. But because you saved the gods, mortals and we will work together to make sure that that spirit survives, even if they don't know it. When Rome inevitably falls, we will not continue hovering above these withering lands — we will move with civilization as it expands westwards, continuing to spread our influence."

"Oh. So I saved Greece metaphorically."

"Certainly not. Greece's spirit is far from intangible. You can go down to any newer city now and see small pieces of Greece scattered about. Don't sell yourself short."

"If I'm being honest, a small part of me hoped that title meant something larger, something big down the line."

"This _is_ big — bigger than you realize. Think on it a while, and don't keep a grieving father waiting."

"What —? Oh, right. Forgot about that." Percy spotted Hermes looking sad off at the edge of the room.

"Real quick, though." Poseidon snapped his fingers. "Can't have you attending a party with that tattered tunic, now can we?"

Percy looked down to see his clothes had been instantly cleaned and restored to perfect condition, meaning his midriff was no longer exposed. He was very grateful for that.

The sea god patted him on the back, and Percy walked toward the father of a demigod he'd slain — there were a lot of parents of demigods he'd killed present, actually, but only Hermes seemed interested in him, at least for the moment. He noticed Reyna sitting at the war gods' table with her mother, not looking all that pleased, for some reason. She shot him a look that said, "Help me!" but he could only shrug apologetically and continue toward the messenger god.

"I can't imagine you can even begin to understand what it's like watching your son slowly devolve into madness," Hermes said when he reached him. "I hope you never have to."

"Uh. . ." was all Percy could say.

"You needn't try to explain yourself. You killed Luke because you hated him, and had good reason to do so. I wish, more than anything, that I could have been there for him and his mother when they needed me. I could have stopped him from becoming the person he was at the end of his life. You never would have had to make that choice."

He paused to take a sip of wine. "A part of me will always resent you for what you did, even though I understand why you had to do it. My son passed a point of no return before you ever met him. He was never going to get better because I couldn't be there for him. Perhaps I should be grateful you stopped him before he could commit even worse deeds, but I'm not. I should feel sad that he's dead, but I'm not. I only grieve for the boy Luke was before he held the love of his life in his arms while she died, taking the good in him with her."

Hermes cleared his throat. "I'm rambling, I apologize. I only wished to let you know that I forgive you, Perseus."

"Oh. Well, uh. . . thanks. And I'm sorry," Percy said.

"Yes. Well, enjoy the party." Hermes finished his wine and tossed the goblet aside before turning and exiting the palace.

Percy stood there for a moment, then turned away from the exit back toward the partygoers. He didn't get two seconds to think about going to Reyna before Jupiter met his eyes and beckoned him forward. Not having a choice, he approached the king.

"I suppose you think you're all high and mighty," said Jupiter. "Enjoying in Olympian festivities, having personal conversations with one god after another."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "I suppose I do."

"Watch your tone, boy. And have you forgotten your manners? You bow before kings."

Reluctantly, Percy gave an exaggerated bow. The Roman god seemed content enough with it.

"Hmph," he said. "My other seems to be under the belief that you deserve thanks. I am under no such assumption. I'll not concede that this course of action was either good or bad — perhaps a bit of both. But I thought you might like to know something."

"And what's that?"

"Gods aren't the only ones affected by this. You'll notice Trivia over there has merged with Hecate. She may be a goddess in granted title, but she's a titaness by blood. The rest of her kind merged as well."

Percy felt a weight lift from his heart. The oath he'd sworn to Atlas had been fulfilled then if that were true.

"That includes," continued Jupiter, "those that were no longer threats. _Our_ titans were all in Tartarus. Now many have risen to join those of the Greeks that my new comrade once spared. Our enemies are stronger now, resulting from this. And they'll not stand idly by."

"But Kronos and Saturn are still down there, aren't they?"

"For now. He doesn't have the strength he needs at this time, but one day, give it a few centuries or so, he could very well rise again with his brethren's aid. But I'm sure that all sounds great to you. You didn't piss off Styx and don't have to worry about a war with titans in your lifetime. But know that no monsters have merged. There's enough for two pantheons out there with only one to go after. You've unified their focus. They'll be stronger. You think that won't affect you?"

"Would you rather I have let the gods fall?" Percy asked, annoyance seeping into his voice from the injustice.

"The past is in the past. Like I said — I'll not concede whether this was good or bad. I just thought you should know that everything _isn't_ all happy and sunny. There are consequences to this, so I made you aware of them."

Jupiter was then replaced with Zeus, who looked only slightly kindlier. "Onto a less grizzly topic. It is customary that demigods who've done the gods a service are rewarded. So let's get this done with. What do you demand?"

"Uh, what?" said Percy.

"A reward, boy. You — are — due — a — re — ward. For what do you wish?"

"It can be anything?"

"Within my power."

Percy glanced at Reyna. "What about her?"

"Unless I'm mistaken, you already have her."

"No. I meant, doesn't she get something too?"

"Hmm. I suppose so, but Bellona already has enough gifts for her. Now, stop wasting my time and tell me what you want before I change my mind."

Percy looked at Reyna again. He felt compelled to consult her on this. A god was offering him anything he wanted; she should be involved in the decision. But Percy knew what he wanted already and doubted she'd have any objections. Even still, a small, selfish part of him feared telling her before Zeus could lead to him choosing something different. He knew what his reward should be, so he'd seize it right now before he could change his mind.

"Jason," he told Zeus.

The sky god gave him a flat look. "I cannot bring back the dead, boy. This one is especially impos —"

"I know," Percy said impatiently, even though he felt a sense of disappointment at hearing it said aloud. "That's not what I was going to say."

"_Never_," Zeus warned, "interrupt me."

"I'm sorry."

"Say your piece."

"Your son — _his_ son, whatever — deserves to be commemorated. He needs a proper funeral with the proper rights. And his sacrifice should be honored, forever. No one should ever forget what he did."

Zeus looked at him for a bit, but it was Jupiter who saw him. After a moment, he glanced above Percy's shoulder and bellowed, "Hephaestus!" The forge god then lumbered over to them, one leg strapped in a metal brace akin to the ones Daedalus and Archimedes III wore. He had a hideous, deformed face partially covered by a scruffy beard and spoke in a gravelly voice.

"Father," he said.

"Jason Grace is to have a statue built in his honor within this city," Zeus told him. "You'll choose an appropriate place for it and construct it post-haste."

"What should the inscription say?" the god of blacksmiths asked.

Zeus looked at Percy expectantly.

"Oh, uh. . ." Percy scratched his head. "I don't know. I'm not exactly a poet."

"A memorial needs a plaque," Zeus said flatly. "If you can't think of anything. . ."

"Ask Reyna," Percy said.

Both gods stared at him.

"She knew him a lot longer than I did," Percy explained. "And she's smarter than me. She'll know what it should say."

"So be it," said Zeus. He nodded to his son.

"It'll be done." Hephaestus returned the nod and limped away.

Zeus's voice drew back Percy's gaze. "Gods cannot venture into the Hollow of Prophecy, as you well know. I cannot obtain his body. If you insist on a burial or cremation, you'll need to venture back and ask the Moirai for his corpse yourself. Should you choose to do so, there's little guarantee that they'll say yes."

"Oh," Percy said, disheartened.

"With or without the body, his funeral is in your hands. There were more people in his life who would wish to attend than just yourself and your lover."

Percy sat on that for several seconds. "Will that be all, _my lord_?"

"It shall. Demigods don't often attend these celebrations, so make the most of the privilege you've been granted. Go _mingle_, or what have you."

* * *

The party didn't end for several hours. Over the course of its duration, the gods took to unity in very odd ways. Most seemed to be stable enough with two minds in one body, but Ares/Mars weren't the only ones competing with themselves. After several kegs of wine had managed to empty, the celebrations really livened up with some unique activities. Artemis, Diana, Apollo, and Apollo took turns in a shooting competition. They were so engrossed in trying to be better than their other selves that they didn't even seem to notice more gods were losing against them. Hermes and Mercury took turns running against a timer to see who could run from one end of Olympus to the other the fastest, but somehow managed to draw at every attempt. After a handful of scenarios like this with equally disappointing outcomes, it became clear that each god was equivalent to their counterparts in every skill — the only exception to this being that Athena was a far better fighter than Minerva. As soon as the gods were forced to accept this fact, the sound of metal against metal rang out over the heavens louder than the music that never stopped playing, as they teamed up with their counterparts to compete in contests that _wouldn't_ end in draws — the majority of said contests were just duels. Ichor was spilled, and the spectators cheered. Even the losers of the matches were so engrossed in the excitement that they ignored the injuries they'd sustained and joined in the crowd's yelling as the next fight began.

Meanwhile, Percy and Reyna had taken the first opportunity to slip away and go for a walk around the edge of the city where no one could disturb them. They discussed some things, briefed one another on the conversations they'd had with some of the gods, and generally avoided bringing up Jason for as long as possible. All the while, Percy's mind was on that pearl necklace and the things Bellona had said to him. There were a couple of pristine moments of silence that could have been good points to ask the question, but he deliberated too long, and the opportunities passed him by. In the end, he decided it wasn't the time, which made him feel guilty considering the promise he'd made to Reyna's mother.

Their time of denial could not last forever, though. As such, they eventually stumbled upon the statue that Hephaestus and Vulcan had erected surprisingly quickly. A golden, life-sized Jason stood proudly upon a marble plinth. It captured his image perfectly. He wore a full suit of legionnaire's armor — the only difference being that Jupiter's symbol was engraved onto his chest piece — and held his sword pointed to the sky like he was about to call down a lightning bolt. A warm smile was permanently set on his face, identical to the one he often wore in life. It was so life-like that one could almost suspect that King Midas had gotten to him.

"I really miss him," Reyna said, her voice soft.

Percy put his arm around her shoulder. "I do too."

He continued looking up at his friend's face, expecting tears to fall. None did. A couple of minutes passed before Reyna finally pointed to the plinth where a bronze plaque was engraved with a message.

"He said that to me once," she said. "At one of my lowest points. I don't think he ever realized how much those words impacted me."

Percy read the plaque three times over, a smile forming on his lips. "It's perfect."

Reyna wiped her eyes. "I thought it more or less captured the things he stood for and the life he lived."

"It does," he agreed.

After a short silence, he added, "This lowest point? What was it?"

"I'll tell you one day," she promised. "It'd ruin the moment to talk about it now."

They found a bench across from the statue and sat together, silently comforting each other in their grief. They eventually began to tell each other stories about Jason, the statue's smile seeming to grow wider while they talked. They laughed at times and grew somber at others. It was still difficult to accept that he was truly gone, but both seemed to have run out of tears to shed. That probably wouldn't last, but for now, they were content just remembering.

A silence ensued, at least as silent as it could get while the gods were enjoying their mayhem in the background. This persisted for a time, the two sitting pressed up against each other, hand in hand before the statue. It didn't end until the final pieces settled into place within Percy's mind, and a revelation came to him.

"I was just thinking," he said.

"About what?" Reyna asked.

"Something Hestia said when we first met. She told us, me and Jason, that we were the bridge between Greece and Rome."

"You never mentioned that."

"I didn't know what it meant then. Even just now, I thought she was only referring to this whole unity thing, but I think it goes much deeper than that."

She waited for him to explain.

"She also told us that Thalia was his sister, and you know gods don't ever tell us things unless there's a good reason for it. I think she might have been trying to clue us in that we had a connection to each other long before we even met."

"Because she was with Luke and your — uh, Annabeth," she said, beginning to understand.

"It was always destined that we meet. Both Jupiter and Zeus having kids with the same woman sounds improbable, and likely unprecedented. It still happened though, which was only the beginning of the bridging Greece and Rome thing. They were separated, and Thalia wound up with Luke. Her death sent him down a spiral that inevitably caused me to go to Rome — to you and Jason. If we hadn't become friends, and you and I more than, the deal Rome made to the rebels would have never gone through. The rift between our countries never would have begun to lessen, and this quest never would have been done. It was always going to end like this, with us."

"Right," Reyna said in a hollow voice. "With you and Jason."

It took a second for the words to reach him. He looked at her, confused, and saw a strange expression on her face — shame.

"Uh. . . what?" was all he could say.

"It's always been the two of you, hasn't it? It's always been you two completing quests, while I sometimes just tagged along, having done very little."

He stared at her incredulously. "_What_ are you even talking about? You've done so much!"

"You were the one to take down Luke and Marcus. You and Jason ran off on this quest while I sat back at Rome, delegating an army when we have no one to fight. Jason went off and killed the sea monster that guarded Kronos's scythe so that you could sweep in and complete another quest —"

The memory of a giant nest above the titans' underwater palace floated to the forefront of his mind, and his eyes widened. He'd made one mention of it while recounting his journey just a little while ago, and she'd pieced it together before him. During that time, she also hadn't given the kiss with Zoë a second thought, which just went to prove how amazing she was and how ridiculous all this talk about her inadequacy was. He needed her to stop rambling, and decided the best way to do this was to kiss her. This was a mistake.

She shoved him back and bore a hurt expression. When she spoke, she sounded angry. "What are you doing? This is _not_ the time for that!"

"No, that's not what —"

"Kissing me isn't the magic solution that instantly makes problems go away, Perseus."

Percy held his hands up in surrender. "I'm sorry! Just listen. I only wanted to shut you up for a minute, and kissing you usually calms you down."

She opened her mouth to retort, but he continued before she got a chance.

"You're amazing! Just listen to me. I was just trying to get you to stop saying crazy things about yourself long enough for me to prove you wrong. You're the strongest, bravest, most capable person I know. And I'm not trying to call you crazy, but to say you've not done anything is just so far from the truth. You were the first woman to earn the rank of both centurion and legatus within a Roman legion, and for good reason. Neither me or Jason could have done any of this without you. You saved my life several times. Luke would've killed me if not for you. Titan probably would've killed both of us if you hadn't saved us. And you were the mastermind behind the plan that took him down, as well as the one that took down the remaining rebels too. You've done so much, and I love you, and that's why I couldn't stand to let you keep talking about yourself like that."

She no longer looked angry, though still seemed unsure about something. Her cheeks were also red, which he found adorable. "Thank you. You still might have handled that better."

"I realize that now."

She smiled, but it didn't last. "You're right, I suppose, about all of that. It's just. . . I worked so hard my whole life to meet my supposed destiny, yet I don't even know what it is. I thought that becoming legatus would have been my peak, my crowning achievement, but then my mother spoke with me for the second time in my life and made me think I was meant for more. I thought this quest was it, so I resigned from my position and came to your aid just for the quest to end without me having played any real important role in it. Lupa trained me to be a soldier, a hero. But I've not earned that tile. How can I ever do anything bigger than this?"

"But you _can_ do something bigger than this, more impressive at least. And you will — I know it."

Their eyes met, and Percy found it very difficult to not give everything away. He didn't like keeping secrets from her, but he couldn't tell her what Bellona had told him without giving away that he knew something he couldn't reveal just yet. The worst part was that he was allowed to choose _when_ he shared the information, but that'd mean ruining something else. _I want this to come from you, but wait until after you've asked her to marry you to tell her_, she had insisted. He could ask her right now and then tell her everything, but this wasn't the right moment. When he finally came clean, she'd understand — hopefully.

"Why do you sound so sure?" Reyna asked.

Percy took a moment to find the right words. "I mean, look at where we are. This is a city of gods. You wouldn't be here if you didn't deserve to be. We're young and still have our whole lives ahead of us. This isn't your peak, and I'm absolutely certain of it. Whatever it is you wind up doing, you'll excel at it."

Reyna stared at him, and a smile settled onto her lips. "I really love you."

"I love you too. Your destiny is still ahead of you. Even though I hope mine is behind me, I'll be with you every step of the way. But we don't have to worry about that yet. We're allowed to take some time to ourselves, and just appreciate what we've accomplished."

She scooted closer to him. "That's a plan I can get behind."

After a pause, she added. "_Now_ is the time to kiss me."

He grinned. "As you command."

* * *

**A/N: Let me know what you all thought of this chapter. It took longer to write not mainly due to the word count (although that was a factor) but because of the difficulty of laying out the information in the right way. Almost everything I've been keeping under wraps until now is supposed to be revealed here, so if there's anything you found confusing or think that I didn't address, PLEASE leave a review and tell me so that I can fix it. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you tell me if there's anything you think I missed or didn't explain too well.**


	42. Epilogue

Blackjack and Scipio happily ate the remaining apples out of Percy's and Reyna's hands. The sky was clear, clouds sparse, and sun shining warmly. Flowers were in bloom, a handful of bees buzzed about, and the wind was a light breeze. The conditions were perfect, almost as if the land and sky themselves were celebrating the dawn of a new era. Percy's mood did not match the weather, though. Given where they'd just come from and where they were about to go, he didn't feel very sunny at all.

"The quest is over," he said. "Thanks for taking us this far. You never had to come with us at all, but you did. So you can consider your debt repaid."

Blackjack finished chewing his last apple and neighed. "_You can't get rid of me that easy, Boss. I'm with you to the bitter end._"

"You don't have to be, though."

"_I want to. Are we friends or not?_"

Percy paused, only because he hadn't been expecting that label. "We are."

"_Then I'll be there whenever you need me, Boss. 'Set me free' or whatever if you want, but I'll always be close by and ready to fly. You know I won't be going on nearly as exciting adventures on my own._"

Percy smiled. "I guess travel can get pretty boring without you, so have it your way. To the bitter end."

Blackjack reared and stomped his hooves down with fervor. "_Yeah! Me and Boss, taking on the world!_"

Percy chuckled. He gave the pegasus a pat and looked over at Scipio, who was having his mane affectionately stroked by Reyna, all apples presumably eaten.

"What about you?" Percy asked him.

"_Oh, he's already made up his mind,_" Blackjack said matter-of-factly.

"_Indeed,_" said Scipio. "_Although Blackjack is a loyal friend and I do miss Guido dearly, I've always longed for more sophisticated company._"

"_Pshh._" Blackjack did his best to roll his eyes, but the expression looked strange on a horse's face.

"_This one_ —" Scipio pressed his face against Reyna's palm, "_— possesses intelligence and wisdom, as well as a heart of gold. I've found in her the companionship I've long sought. I offer her the loyalty I'd once envisioned giving to Jason Grace._"

Reyna was watching Percy throughout the interaction, having no idea what the horses were saying.

"He's really taken a liking to you," Percy told her.

"I've noticed," she said, smiling. "I so envy you that ability."

"Yeah, I know. It is pretty great. He told me you have a heart of gold, and wants to be your companion."

She stared at the pegasus, surprised. "I'm honored."

There was a pause while Percy listened before translating. "He says the honor is his, and you have his loyalty. Call or whistle when you need him; he'll always answer."

"Thank you, Scipio," she said. "I shall carry the privilege of your companionship with great pride."

"You don't need to be so formal, Reyna. He's not a king."

She glared at him.

Once the pegasi took off, the couple proceeded up the road and to the city gate. The streets were bustling, its people lively. A couple of children were running about, playing tag while a woman sang nearby with a voice barely audible over all the people talking and milling about. A shady man tried to sell Percy a potion that supposedly cured impotence. Percy was too busy to respond, wondering why he'd targeted _him_; meanwhile, Reyna assured the merchant that he needed no help in that department and then dragged Percy along.

It took some time, but after navigating signposts toward the wealthier districts of Neapoli, they managed to find the right person to ask for information. They thanked the man for his help and found their way to Tristan McLean's villa. Unfortunately, knocking on the front door yielded no response.

"What do we do?" Percy asked.

"Wait and look around, I suppose," Reyna suggested.

Doing that resulted in very little. They searched the structure's exterior but found no one. Only animals grazed the pasture, and not a worker could be seen tending to the fields. Regrettably, they had no idea what the man even looked like, so it wasn't as if they could just go searching for him. In the end, they were forced to sit and wait at the villa's entrance, knocking one last time just to be safe, to be met with the same lack of response.

An hour passed, and Reyna had fallen asleep on Percy's shoulder. A rather handsome, albeit greying man approached them, looking confused. Percy shook his beloved awake, and the two stood.

"Can I help you?" the man asked.

"Are you Tristan McLean?" said Percy.

"I am," he said warily.

"We're looking for your daughter, Piper."

"We were friends of Jason's," said Reyna. "My name is Reyna, and he's Percy."

"Oh." The man's expression softened. "Piper is — What do you mean by 'were'?"

Percy and Reyna glanced at one another.

"I'm. . . afraid we have bad news," Reyna said.

"Oh, no." Tristan cupped his hand over his heart.

"He. . . died in battle. He sacrificed his life to save countless others."

"That's horrible. He — Piper. . ."

Percy nodded solemnly. "That's why we're here. She deserves to know."

Tristan wiped his eyes, then told them where to find Piper's home.

"Thank you," said Percy.

"I can't pretend to have ever been close with him," said Tristan, "but I housed him for years. He was a dutiful boy with a kind heart. It was sad enough when he disappeared one day without saying a word. But this? Oh, my poor girl. This will break her."

"His death has been hard on all of us," said Reyna.

Tristan sat down, his eyes lowered. Reyna patted his shoulder consolingly, then looked at Percy.

"Why don't you go on ahead?" she said. "I'll stay here a bit."

Percy met her eyes. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "You can meet me here."

He hesitated a few seconds more, then nodded. "Alright, then."

He left the two alone and walked according to Tristan's directions. He had to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do. Telling Jason's mother and her husband was difficult enough to bear, and he'd just decided it'd been no easier the second time. Now he had to say it to the woman his friend had been in love with. He tried to imagine how _he_ would react should Reyna take off one day on some dangerous mission, and someone else came to tell him she would never be coming back; he couldn't do it.

Minutes later, his knuckles rapped on a new door. He needed to wait mere seconds for it to open, then unexpectedly saw a familiar face.

"Hmm," said Aphrodite, her eyes betraying only a hint of surprise. "The Savior of Greece. I can't say it's a shame to see _you_ again so soon, although I can't say it was anticipated, here of all places."

Percy stared for a few moments before remembering to bow. He heard faint sobbing coming from within the house, but couldn't see its source past the goddess.

"Um, right," he said awkwardly. "The Fates did mention something about. . ."

"Oh, indeed," said the goddess, whose distinctly Greek attire gave away which of her counterparts was speaking. "I left a number of children behind when I entered my decade long beauty sleep, unwillingly. The girl who stole your late friend's heart is one of them. Most of the others, I'm afraid, found their way into your rebellion. You're well aware of what became of them."

"I'm sorry," said Percy. "Were any. . .?"

"One," Aphrodite answered. "I can't say she was my favorite, but I can't say I'm not saddened by her death, either. I _can_ say that I wholly understand why you had to kill her, and hold no vendetta against you. But I doubt that's what you wish to talk about, so let's move on, shall we?"

Percy nodded guiltily.

"I believe I can guess why you're here. But the matter is already taken care of. Better to come from her mother than a stranger."

Percy could still hear the sobbing. "I still need to talk to her."

"What for? She already knows."

"With all due respect, my lady, Jason asked me to do one thing before he died. I intend to do it."

Aphrodite stared at him analytically. Finally, she took a step out of the doorway and said, "So be it. I _do_ have another stop to make before the day is done. I'm skeptical you have the ability to make her hurt any less, but I'm certain no words can hurt her more at this time. Just a small heads up — her husband is sterile."

Percy's brow furrowed. "What —?"

"Oh, and that's a _very_ nice necklace you have," she complimented.

Percy's hand instinctively shot to his satchel, where his father's gift was wholly concealed.

"It'll look lovely on Reyna," said the goddess. "You know, you two make a cute couple. I do _so_ enjoy tragic romances and heartbreaks — they're more interesting — but the love you share is something special. I would honestly like to see it last."

With a wink, she strutted past him and took off down the street, drawing many eyes to her as she went. Percy watched after her for a single beat, a little dumbfounded by the things she'd said, before turning his eyes back toward the door that had been left open.

Piper was a complete wreck. She didn't notice him walk up to her. The crying woman sat alone on the edge of a chair, her face lowered, and messy locks dangling down, hiding it from view. Her elbows rested on pressed-together knees while her hands dug through her hair. There was also a rather repugnant odor in the room. He couldn't tell where it was coming from, but he was at least certain it wasn't from her.

"Hello," Percy said.

She glanced up, and her sobbing hitched, though only momentarily. Piper continued crying, clearly attempting to stop. She spent the next minute wiping her tear-stained face and pushing her hair back so that it wasn't obstructing her vision. Percy waited patiently, giving her space while the woman did her best to gather herself. Eventually, her face was dry, the weeping had ceased, and she was able to speak in a surprisingly clear voice.

"Who are you?" she said, her arms crossed over her stomach.

"My name's Percy. I'm another demigod, and a friend of Jason's. I. . . came here to tell you something you already know."

She stared at him, face unreadable. After a time, she gestured toward an empty chair. Percy accepted the invitation and sat facing her. She wiped her eyes once more.

"I was there when. . . when it happened," Percy told her gently. "How much did your mother tell you?"

She sniffled. "Everything. The cave, prophecy. . . all of it."

"She probably didn't tell you exactly what went down inside the Hollow. We didn't know what would happen when we went in. I never would have allowed it. I would've given my own life in his stead, if it were possible."

She didn't say anything.

"He asked me to do something before he died. He wanted me to find you. He wanted you to know that he never meant to leave you again."

Her eyes welled up, and she burst into tears once more. His heart broke for her while he could do nothing more than sit and wait for her to stop. He wanted to find the words to say to make her feel better, but knew they didn't exist.

"H- he visited me," she eventually choked out. "Recently. W- we- were go- going to get ba- back together!"

"I'm so sorry," was all Percy could think to say.

She continued bawling. Then suddenly, she picked up an old pail from beside her and vomited into it. Percy stared at it, realizing where the odor was coming from, then watched her set the bucket down and cross her arms over her stomach again. Two seconds passed before his eyes widened, realizing what Aphrodite had meant.

Piper was pregnant, and with Jason's child.

* * *

Jason's funeral was simple but nice. Tristan had volunteered to host it at his villa and even hired a cook and musicians to service the event. He'd also been gracious enough to allow Percy and Reyna to stay as guests the night before. The turnout was quite small. Piper found it too hard to try and attend, and his mother and husband had insisted a funeral was pointless without a body when Percy had broached the idea back in Rome. A few people he'd been acquainted with when he lived here showed up. Due to him having died a deserter and almost all of them living in Rome, no legionnaires were extended invitations. Other than Percy, Reyna, Tristan, and those few, the only other attendees were Juno and Vesta, who'd stood incognito at the back while Reyna gave the eulogy she'd prepared with only a little input from Percy. Jupiter had been absent.

Afterward, Percy and Reyna waited for nightfall to depart from the city's eastern gate. They called their loyal pegasi, who flew them low above the road for a time until they found the plume of smoke they'd been searching for. They landed outside the woods and continued on foot to a camp with two inhabitants, right where Percy had last seen them.

"Perseus," said the centaur. "You return. And it's good to see you again as well, Reyna."

The couple approached with a bit of distance between them, but it didn't seem to have any effect. Annabeth watched their approach with knowing eyes that he knew well enough to see the resentment hidden inside.

"Hey," he said.

"Chiron." Reyna gave a nod of greeting to him before looking to Percy's ex-lover with her head held high. "You must be Annabeth."

"A pleasure," she said without any heart in her voice.

"If you've come with a tale to tell," said Chiron, "You needn't spare the words. Athena's already been to see us. I am deeply sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," said Percy. "I actually came here to —"

"Annabeth," Reyna suddenly interrupted. "Could I speak with you alone for a moment?"

Percy stared at her in confusion, but she didn't meet his gaze. The two women stared each other down while he and Chiron watched with apprehension. The crackling fire was the only thing filling the tense silence.

Annabeth stood and nodded. Reyna smiled. They walked toward the woods together, and Reyna clapped her hands twice. Two metal hounds bounded from the shadows to trot at her side, one made of silver and the other made of gold. Annabeth couldn't help looking startled by them, but held her composure and showed no fear. They were gone before Percy could comment.

"Would you care to have a seat?" Chiron asked.

Percy sat. "I uh. . . I wasn't expecting that."

"You bring two women you've loved within arms reach, and they're bound to have things to say to one another."

"You don't think they'll fight or anything, do you?"

"You know both of them more intimately than I. Your guess would hold more weight."

Percy twiddled his thumbs nervously, really hoping Annabeth didn't try to lie to Reyna.

"So what's next for you, young Perseus?" Chiron asked, staring at him inquisitively.

Percy spared one more glance in the direction the girls had gone before answering. "Reyna has a sister, long-lost. We're going to go find her."

"And after that?"

"Not thought that far ahead. We're going to wing it. Take some time alone, enjoy being together without some sort of big issue hanging over our heads. We'll figure things out from there."

"Sounds peaceful."

"That's the hope."

Chiron sighed. "So many heroes lay in early graves. I've trained many of them personally. I grew to care for them and had to mourn for them. I sorely pray that you two get to be among the few exceptions."

"I'm sorry. I thought _I've_ lost a lot of people, but you. . . I can't even imagine."

"Immortality is a gift and a curse, Perseus. Try and remember that."

"So, are you going to go back to training demigods now that the gods are awake again and more are going to be born?"

"As I'm sure you're well aware, this merging has dire consequences. Monsters will grow stronger, hungrier. I imagine it's only a matter of time before they start ignoring the bounds of mortal cities to seek out demigod blood, choosing to hide in plain sight. It'll prove more difficult for young demigods to survive on their own. I hope to find a suitable location to set up a more permanent camp. Athena had the right idea in telling Daedalus to gather them all in one place, and I wish to carry that on. There's strength in numbers."

"How do you keep finding the will to train heroes, knowing a lot of them will die young?"

"Death is a part of life. Tragedies are common and inevitable. But when I do get to see my pupils live to enjoy happy endings, it's all the more gratifying."

"Gratifying. . ." Percy said, thoughtful.

Chiron smiled.

A few minutes later, the women returned without the precious dogs, neither looking harmed or displeased. In fact, Percy would go so far as to say they appeared to have had a pleasant conversation.

"Percy," said Annabeth. "I'm ready now."

"Uh, for what?" he said.

"To talk. That's why you came here, isn't it? To 'tie up one last loose end'?"

Percy shot Reyna a look, who'd sat down and was feigning ignorance. He pushed himself to his feet and approached his former betrothed, hoping this exchange would go as smoothly as her's and Reyna's seemed to.

"I'm really sorry about your friend," Annabeth said after they'd walked a distance away from the campsite.

Percy nodded solemnly. "Did you know?"

"About what?"

"Jason was Thalia's brother."

She stopped in her tracks, eyes fixed on the ground. "He can't be."

"You said he reminded you of her."

"I didn't think that _meant_ anything. There was a passing resemblance, sure. But Thalia never told me she had a brother, and I don't think she told Luke either."

"Jason trained with the wolf goddess Lupa since he was two, so he never knew his family. Maybe the separation was too painful a memory for Thalia, so she suppressed it."

She was silent for a while. Eventually, she turned to face him, but wouldn't meet his eyes. She stood out of arm's reach of him.

"About, you know. . . how things ended," she said.

"Yeah. That's been on my mind too. I wish it would have gone different."

"I was so stupid."

Percy let out a laugh, which was promptly stifled by a glare from Annabeth. "I'm sorry. It's just — you're the smartest person I've ever met. 'Stupid' and you don't really go together."

"But I _was_. Luke — I should have seen it before we were ever even a rebellion."

"Hey. None of us were able to see it. He and the others hid their true natures very well."

"I _was_ able. I saw him do questionable things, heard his terrible suggestions, and saw him get angry — vindictive, rash, spiteful. I just — I always brushed it aside, because. . ." Her voice wavered progressively more until she trailed off.

"You loved him," Percy finished for her.

She met his eyes with tears at the corners of hers. "I still do. I know I shouldn't, and I hate him at the same time, but I can't stop loving him."

"I understand."

"How could you?"

Percy realized the gap between them had grown smaller. He took a step back and broke eye contact, taking a moment to find the best way to put it gently.

"You're right," he said. "I guess I don't fully. But I know how hard it is to give up on someone you love. It took me a while to fall out of love with you. I knew then that it was over between us for good, but I still loved you. Even when all the facts told me you were with him and approved of his choices, when a nagging voice told me I should hate you, I still couldn't give up on you. Even when the love died because — well, reasons — I couldn't stop believing you were the person I once wanted to spend my life with. And I'm not in love with you anymore, but I remember what it was like to be. I don't blame you for the mistakes you made. I forgive you."

She was silent for a while, before voicing what was on her mind. "What if I'd listened to you? What if I'd left the rebellion with you? What do you think would have happened?"

"I don't know," Percy said honestly. "I thought about it, a few times, but knew it'd never have happened. In the impossibility that you did, we'd have stayed together awhile, then something else would inevitably split us apart."

"Sounds accurate. I keep running it through my head over and over again, but every scenario I can think up always ends the same — with our paths diverging. We weren't meant to be."

"It doesn't have to stay that way — the diverging paths thing, I mean."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"You know we had a friendship before we ever got together," he said. "There's nothing stopping us from going back to that."

"What about Reyna?"

Percy shrugged. "She forgave me when another woman kissed me. She'll probably be able to handle us being friends again."

"Who kissed you? Whatever, I don't want to know. I shouldn't be surprised. You know how many girls had it in for me when we first got together?"

"No?"

She rolled her eyes. "That also doesn't surprise me. It doesn't matter. She may be able to handle us being friends, but I'm not. Just. . . not yet."

Percy smiled sadly. "I get it."

"I need to figure things out. It might take some time, so I hope that offer doesn't expire."

"Never. I hope you find what you're looking for. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. I'm sure you'll find someone who won't break the ones he makes."

"Maybe. But it's not that important. I can be by myself for a while." She paused. "Reyna seems good for you."

"Oh," he said awkwardly. "Yeah, I think so."

"It looks like you two might have what we were missing. I hope it works out for the both of you — honestly."

"Thanks."

She took one step forward, hesitated, and then hugged him. He hugged her back. It was a strange feeling, enjoying this particular woman's embrace without the presence of either tension or romantic implications. It was just so foreign to be able to share a purely platonic hug with her, but he liked it. She may not be ready to be his friend yet, but he was confident she one day would be. He was happy in knowing that.

* * *

Percy and Reyna departed the next morning. After spending the previous night relaxing by the fire, eating, and recounting tales for a while with Chiron and Annabeth, the two went to sleep separately (Annabeth may have been cool with the two of them being together, but neither wanted to offend her). Not long after waking up, they said their farewells and took off for a stroll. Reyna didn't know exactly where they'd be going yet, but he did.

"You're satisfied?" she asked as they walked.

"With what?" Percy said.

"Your loose ends."

"Yeah," he lied. He still had one last one to tie.

After a silence, she said, "Annabeth is nice."

"You didn't have to bring out Aurum and Argentum for that," he scolded.

"I wanted a chance to use them. My mother gave them to me for a reason. You know I wouldn't have let them attack her, even if she had lied."

"She probably figured out what they're for. It doesn't exactly exude a trusting nature."

"Well, I _didn't_ trust her. She was with the man who nearly killed you, and in love with him _while_ she was still with you."

"Don't tell me you're jealous."

"Of course not. You told me you're not in love with her anymore a long time ago, and I don't need Aurum and Argentum in order to believe you."

Percy put his arm around her shoulder and smiled. "We've come a long way from the Roman officer and her rebel captive."

"Indeed we have," she said in a loving tone. "We'd go even farther if we called Blackjack and Scipio."

"In time. Let's just enjoy this moment."

"Hmm. That does sound good."

They walked on with no destination in mind for another minute. The wind was but a light breeze, carrying a few loose petals through the warm air. The sky was just cloudy enough to keep the sun's rays from burning their skin without affecting the temperature too much. A handful of birds flew above while one was perched in a tree somewhere nearby, chirping a song. It truly was a blissful moment — one might even say perfect.

"So what did you two talk about?" Percy finally asked.

"Some things," Reyna said vaguely. "You first."

"Oh, you know. Luke, our past. . . you. We made peace. She said she's going to take some time by herself to figure things out before she's ready to be a friend."

"Aligns well with the conversation I had."

"She also approved of us. She said we might have something that she and I were missing."

"What do you think that is?"

"I'm not sure. One of us isn't in love with someone else, for one. So, solidarity? Loyalty?"

She thought for a moment. "Unity?"

He smiled. "Yeah, that. We're in tune with each other. I'm happy with you, and you're happy with me. . . right?"

"Hmm, I don't know," she teased. "Now that you mention it, Lucius _does_ seem rather dashing. I might have to leave you for him."

He gave her a playful shove, and she chuckled.

"Oh, wait," she said. "I forgot he's married. I guess I'll just have to stick with you for now."

Percy smirked. "The heart wants what it wants. Jason didn't let a little roadblock like marriage stop him from going after his heart's desire, and neither should you."

"So there's still hope."

They both laughed, then quickly grew somber at the mention of Jason.

"Of _course_ I'm happy with you, Percy," she said. "There's no one I'd rather be with. You are my one true love."

His heart somersaulted in his chest upon hearing those words. Gods, he loved this woman. The necklace hidden in his satchel came to the forefront of his mind, and he suddenly felt nervous.

"So it's your turn now," he said instead of the question he needed to ask. "What did you talk about with Annabeth?"

She shrugged. "You, mainly. I only wished to ensure that there were no hard feelings. I saw a good person who suffered at the hands of a villain, and regret for her mistakes. Her strength and intelligence also didn't slip my notice. I can understand why you wanted to marry her."

Percy hung on her words for two beats before snagging the opportunity. Nothing was stopping him. It was now or never.

"I don't want to marry her," he said. "I want to marry you."

She froze. Percy continued forward two steps so he could stand facing her. Her eyebrows were raised, and mouth slightly agape. For the first time, he'd completely stunned her.

"Reyna." He pulled out the wrapped necklace, but her eyes didn't leave his face. "Can I be your husband?"

Her lips slowly took on the shape of a smile over the course of four seconds, before finally parting so she could utter the word, "Yes."

"Yes?" He grinned. "You'll marry me?"

"Yes!"

"Then —"

He didn't get a chance to finish what he was going to say, as suddenly he found her arms wrapped around his neck and her kissing him passionately. He kissed her back and hugged her tightly, the necklace still in his hand. When they separated from one another an eternity later, her face was decorated with a look of pure joy as she bit her bottom lip through the broadest smile he'd ever seen on her face. His expression likely looked similar.

"What were you going to say?" she asked.

He freed the pearl necklace from the cloth and held it in front of her. "My father gave me this, so I can give it to you."

"It's gorgeous," she muttered.

"Can I put it on you?"

She turned around and pulled her hair aside. He strung it around her neck and locked the ends together.

"This," he said during the process, "will serve as a promise. You're my one true love, and even death can never change that."

She turned back around. Aphrodite's words rang true — she _did_ look lovely with it on. She kissed him again, but this time it only lasted a moment. When she pulled away, her eyes were on his.

"So when do you want to marry?" she said.

"It might have to wait a while," he admitted.

She furrowed her brow. "Why?"

"Because I know how to find your sister."

For the second time, he'd completely stunned her.

"_What?_" she said after several seconds.

"Back on Olympus, your mother told me you and Hylla have your own destinies, and that's why she let you become separated. But she's already achieved hers, apparently, and it's time for you to be reunited. And then she told me how to find her."

"She told _you_ instead of her own daughter?" she said, outraged. "And why did you hide this from me?"

"She made me promise! She said I couldn't tell you until after I'd asked you to marry me. And I really wanted to tell you sooner, but I didn't want to ruin this moment by asking when the time wasn't right."

Reyna looked less angry. "But why you?"

"I'm supposed to act as your guide, because we're sailing the Hospitable Sea."

That didn't lessen her confusion. "Why would we need to sail, and why would you have to be my guide? Would it not be faster to fly?"

Percy shrugged helplessly. "Word for word, this is what she said. 'Sail the Hospitable Sea to its southeastern shores. Once there, go where the monster population is densest, and you'll soon find Hylla.' You know how vague goddesses are. It doesn't make much sense to me either."

"But it's a lead." Her eyes glimmered with hope.

"We have a heading," he agreed.

"I'm going to see my sister again. And then we're getting married."

"I will do everything in my power to make sure that happens."

"Have you truly tied all your loose ends?"

"Now I have. We can go now if you want."

"Then let's go now."

Percy whistled loudly to the sky. "So let's get on Blackjack and Scipio and find us a boat."

The pegasi came and carried them through the skies once more. As they flew, Percy felt utterly content. He'd been a child when Greece fell, but had never even lived there. He'd grown up in a Greek city that had been a part of the Ptolemaic Empire for nearly two hundred years. But that didn't define his blood or the culture he'd been raised with. He never felt out of place among the other children of Greek gods that had actually grown up in Greece. The fall had impacted him just as significantly as them. His life since the end of that war has been nothing but a series of twists and changes that he had to struggle through just to get to the next obstacle. He'd always dreamed of a day when he could kick back and be able to say that it's over. But no matter what "it" was, it'd never be over — and he was finally okay with that. Life would throw new things his way, and tomorrow would never look like yesterday. But no matter what significant changes and events the future held for him, he'd find a way to adapt. He'd gotten pretty good at that by now.

* * *

**A/N: To address something a couple of people brought up — is this story meant to be a prequel to PJO? In short, no. I intentionally wrote a lot of things so that you can accept this story as a headcanon for Rick's universe, but there are a lot of issues with that. The first being that just changing the names isn't really a viable solution. There are direct allusions to Percy and the original Perseus in this story that wouldn't work if you pretended his name was different. Then there is the fact that there's no mention of these events at all in the books, but that could be explained away by the gods being too egotistical to let anyone know how close they came to being wiped from existence just to be saved by demigods. But then there are the coincidences of these characters' godly parents. Jason and Thalia being born to two aspects of one god in the books is supposed to be unprecedented. Then there's a daughter of Bellona who's attracted to a son of Poseidon who's with a daughter of Athena. And that daughter of Athena also happens to have feelings for an evil son of Hermes. There are also the creative freedoms I took with Roman history. Also, Daedalus can't appear in Batlle of the Labyrinth if he died in this story. I think we can stop there. It just doesn't really work, so I'm not going to claim this story is a prequel. That doesn't mean you can't, though.**


	43. Reyna I

Hi. I don't know if you can see what I can, but I know you're there. I know you can hear me.

Today, Father let us go to the Circus Maximus to see the races. Hylla seemed excited, and I was too. Father was drinking again and getting angry. Hylla told me she wanted to get me out of the house. I don't really get to go too far from the house that much. I really wanted to see the horses and the chariots, but Hylla didn't seem all that interested when we got there. She kept me close, though, and I was happy to be alone with her. I think she was just glad to not be near Father.

We didn't get to see the end of the race, though. A man approached us and started saying weird things to Hylla. She asked him to go away, but he wouldn't. He started getting too close and tried to touch her. So she did as Father taught us and fought him, even though he was a grown-up. She hit him, and he hit back. I was scared, and I didn't know what to do.

Then some soldiers came. They pulled the man and my sister apart, and then dragged her away. I ran after her, begging the men to let her go. They wouldn't. They dropped her outside and told us not to go back in. I could tell she was upset and sad, but she said she was fine. I didn't believe her. I hugged her, and she hugged me back. I never saw the man get kicked out.

Hylla took me back home. Father was angry. He said he wanted a chance to be alone for once without any burdens. He wanted to know why we were back so soon. I didn't want him to punish Hylla for getting us kicked out, so I told him the races closed early. He yelled at me for lying to him. Then he hit me. He told me to go to my room. I can still hear him shouting. I hope he doesn't hit her too.

My face still hurts, but not so much when I'm talking to you. Thanks for listening. I just wish you'd talk back.

* * *

Reyna's father sat watching the two sisters in his chair, gently pressing the tip of his dagger up against his finger. A droplet of blood ran down the blade, but he didn't seem to notice. His daughters were swinging sticks at each other like swords. He egged them on, demanding to see the skills he'd taught them. Then Reyna made a mistake, and she lost her stick.

The young girl shut her eyes tight and waited for her sister's strike to come, but it never did.

"What are you waiting for?" their father demanded. "Hit her!"

"She's already disarmed," Hylla said through gritted teeth.

"So what? The girl won't learn if she doesn't suffer for her mistakes! Hit her!"

Hylla looked her father in the eyes with a defiant expression. "No."

He lowered his dagger, then spoke in a low, deadly tone. "What?"

"No," Hylla repeated.

Alarmed, Reyna grabbed her sister's arm. "Hylla, please! Just do it!"

"No," Hylla said a third time, not taking her eyes off their father.

The former soldier let out a grunt of frustration. He pushed himself up from his chair and advanced on Hylla so rapidly that neither girl had time to react. He grabbed her stick and tried to wrench it from her hands, but she fought to keep hold. Reyna saw his dagger fall to the floor.

"I will _not_ stand for disobedience!" their father shouted.

"It's the only thing that's gotten you to stand all day!" Hylla spat.

_Smack!_

Hylla tumbled back and landed on her rear, a red spot on her face. Their father stood over her triumphantly, stick in hand. Reyna had dropped hers and now stood staring, horrified. She'd never seen her sister stand up to their father before. Neither knew first hand what the consequences of doing so would be. He swung; Hylla cried out. From the corner of her eye, Reyna could still see the dagger on the floor.

"You learn —!" He hit her again. "— through discipline!"

Hylla couldn't get up; she couldn't fight back. Her father's attacks persisted too swiftly and too violently. All she could do was curl up and try to absorb the blows with her arms. Reyna stood frozen, looking between them and the dagger on the floor.

The stick snapped. The man persisted in his beating, now using his fists. Hylla's cries of agony and fear couldn't be suppressed. They came more frequently and more loudly. Reyna stared at the dagger on the floor.

A quiet, disturbing sound that Reyna would never forget seemed to reverberate around the room. At the same time, her father gasped, and the beating ceased. There was silence. Hylla, quivering and bleeding, looked up with terrified eyes. Reyna slowly backed away, her eyes widened in shock. The dagger was no longer on the floor.

He kept his balance for five seconds before falling onto his back. A pool of blood slowly formed next to him. He gripped the hilt and shakily pulled his own dagger out of his side, then it involuntarily slipped from his fingers. The crimson puddle began to grow more rapidly. He stared at his youngest daughter, and she stared back with hands shaking just as much as his. She saw no fear in his eyes — still only anger.

Not a word was said. Hylla sat frozen, staring at her younger sister with an expression she couldn't read. Tears fell from Reyna's eyes, who was in as much disbelief as everyone else.

"You. . . bitch!" The girls' father, bleeding profusely, started to get up.

Reyna looked at her sister one more time, who still didn't move. Then she turned and ran.

* * *

Hi. I know I haven't talked to you in a while, but I really need you right now. I hope you're still listening, because you're all I have left.

I don't know where Hylla is, and Father's dead. I — I'm sorry. I know you're confused, but I'm not ready to tell you about what happened. Let's just talk about something else — anything else.

I met my mother today. Her name is Bellona, and she's a goddess. Father. . . he never talked about her. He'd throw things and shout whenever I tried to ask. Hylla. . . she never tried. Maybe she'd already learned not to by the time I could talk.

Bellona, or Mother, spoke to me for a while. She told me a lot of things, some that I didn't understand. She said I'm a demigod, and that means I'm important. I have powers, and a destiny. I'm supposed to become a warrior. I told her I didn't know how to do that, and she said she knows.

I'm on a boat now, but there's no crew. I don't know why, but the boat is on land, somewhere away from the city. She left a bunch of food in the cabin, so I ate a lot of it; I've been starving these past few days. It's too bad she left before I could thank her.

I'm going to sleep now. My mother told me when I wake up, I'll be somewhere else. I'm going to meet someone who'll help me. I decided to believe her, but I don't know how this boat is supposed to move on land. I'll talk to you again in the morning. I hope you'll still be there.

* * *

Alone in the woods, hand on her sheathed sword, Reyna stood on alert. It was dim with small rays of light darting through the treeline from the full moon above. She wanted to believe the light source meant that Diana was watching over her, but felt that'd be hoping too much. If the goddess of the hunt was watching right now, she thought, it was because something else was hunting _her_.

The girl, a few years shy of womanhood, slowly pivoted, eyes darting about and ears trained carefully. And she waited for the unknown predator to make its move.

Her weapon was drawn within the same second she heard a deep, distinctly human, growl. A beast with a grey coat bounded from a bush toward her. She sidestepped at the perfect moment, and a hound's whimper came from her attacker. Her blade, previously clean, was now spotted with flecks of crimson. Reyna twisted so that she faced the monster in a proper stance, but hesitated to strike.

The beast turned to face her with bared fangs, and it stood up on two legs. It had a deep gash across its swollen stomach, painting its fur red, but it didn't seem to care. It glanced at her blade with intelligent eyes, in which the girl could see a burning hatred. It looked ready to pounce, but she decided to try and stall.

"Wolves are supposed to hunt in packs," she said, feigning calmness.

"I'm more man than wolf, _demigod_," the werewolf spat, not surprising her with its ability to speak.

"You don't look it."

"Insolent child!" It leaped toward her with astonishing speed.

Reyna rolled away, simultaneously opening a new wound on its body. It didn't wait to attack again, putting her training to the test. It lashed out with dirty, razor-sharp claws, and she responded with a swing that should have severed its hand. Instead, the blade bounced off its bone and threw a splash of blood into the air. She was left vulnerable, not adequately reacting in time to a swipe from its second paw. A chunk of fabric was severed from her tunic, but the nail missed her skin.

The young demigod began to sweat profusely. It was taking all of her willpower to suppress her fear and keep focused. The werewolf attacked swiftly and ferociously, but she had the reactions and skill to remain unharmed. She was growing tired, but the beast never slowed, despite the countless wounds it'd sustained from her blade.

"Iron can't kill me, stupid girl!" it said, now bleeding from more than a dozen lacerations.

Silver, she remembered. Silver could kill werewolves. She didn't have any silver.

Eventually, when Reyna was sure she was overdue for a slip-up she wouldn't be able to recover from, a growl met her ears — it hadn't come from the beast in front of her. A massive wolf with a hide of deep scarlet jumped over Reyna's head and tackled the werewolf away. The cursed creature, smart enough to fear the wolf goddess, instantly turned and ran, first throwing one last hateful look the demigod's way.

While it fled, the girl dropped to a knee and took a moment to catch her breath. With a bowed head, she ashamedly kept her gaze from Lupa, who was no doubt disappointed that she'd needed to be saved from her first monster encounter.

"You've done well, my cub," said the bestial goddess.

Reyna, doubting her ears, didn't look up. "I failed, my lady."

"You were ill-equipped. Not having access to one specific monster's sole weakness is not your failure. You held your own, far longer than most would have, and therefore have proven yourself."

The young demigod looked at her mentor, still not sure she'd heard correctly. "My lady?"

Lupa sat before her on her hind legs, her face stoic as usual, but eyes warm. "You're among the fastest learners I've ever trained, Reyna Arellano. You prodigiously mastered every form of combat I could teach you, and absorbed my knowledge and wisdom like fabric does liquid. You've nothing more to learn from me."

Reyna hesitated to respond. "Are you certain?"

"As ever. You're no longer the scared child that your mother delivered to me those few years ago. Soon you'll be a woman, but already you're a warrior. I repeat — you've nothing more to learn."

The girl stared. She opened her mouth to speak, but whatever she'd planned to say didn't come out, because she suddenly disagreed. Reyna may not be a child anymore, but she was scared. Since she'd killed her father, Lupa had been the only home she had. If there was nothing more to learn, that meant that'd be lost to her. How could she just move on, leave the wolf goddess behind and go off on her own? What would she do? This was all too sudden. Since that awful day, the girl had done little more than train to defeat any foe that dared face her, but she'd never prepared for this.

"There has to be," the youth said at last. "I'm not ready to leave."

"You _are_, my cub," said Lupa. "You know this."

"I'm not. . . Where would I go?"

"Where do you _want_ to go?"

She didn't know. She wouldn't have asked if she did. Reyna was about to exasperatedly state as such, but then took a calming breath and a moment to think. Then the answer seemed obvious.

"Rome," she said.

"You believe you'll find your sister there?" said the wolf goddess, knowing Reyna well enough to understand her thought process.

"It's the last place I saw her. I wouldn't know where else to look."

"Then it sounds like Rome is where you must return. I do have one last piece of advice for you, though. Do not tie your destiny with hers. You've gone down different paths. If they don't cross naturally, it may hinder your own progress to try and force them to."

"She was all I had. I _must_ find her."

"You mustn't destroy yourself in the search, my cub. It's a big world, and you could die of old age before exploring every place you thought she could be. Do what's best for you."

Although undeterred, Reyna said, "I understand."

* * *

Hello. . . I would apologize for having ignored you these past years, but I know you're not real now. Maybe I even knew then. I'm honestly not sure.

This is so stupid. I'm a trainee in Rome's greatest legion, and I'm talking to. . . I don't even know what to call you. A figment of my imagination, I suppose, is most accurate. I created you because I needed someone to share my difficulties with. I never wanted to burden Hylla with them because I knew she had too many of her own. That resulted in you. I'm still not certain why that helped me so much. I never even gave you a voice. I never pictured a face. As a child, I only needed someone to listen to me. Perhaps I just hadn't dared to ask for more. If I had, I might have done the simple thing and prayed instead. But I think I trusted your ear more than the gods'.

I suppose if I'm going to do this, I should do it right. You helped me as a child; I hope you can still help me now. I need to get you filled in so you can understand what I'm going through — at least, as well as something I fabricated can understand anything.

I can't remember the last time I spoke to you, so I'll just start with meeting Lupa. I was a terrified girl who knew little more than that I loved my sister, she was gone, and I — I had done something unthinkable. Lupa took me in as one of her own and raised me, trained me, as she had Romulus and Remus. I learned a great deal from her. On day one I improved more as a fighter than I ever had with. . . with Father. I took to combat rather quickly, mastering the sword, dagger, spear, and everything else she put in my hands. A majority of my time was actually spent sitting down, learning. She taught me of the gods, the myths, my people's history, other people's history, among other things. Most significantly, she taught me how to be brave.

One day, she decided I'd graduated her care. I had nothing more to learn from her, and so I was on my own. My life was supposed to pick up from there. I was a new person, practically a woman already, and had the world at my heel. But, as you can guess, things instead got a lot worse. I was alone with no one to rely upon — not even you — and clueless as to what I was meant to do. So I returned to Rome. I wanted to find my sister, partly just to know that she was doing fine, but more so that I could have someone to share my sad existence with.

I searched the city for weeks. I asked, I begged, I pleaded, and I prayed. There was no sign of her anywhere. The people who'd moved into our old house had no knowledge of the previous residents, and everyone else I asked was equally uninformed as to Hylla's whereabouts. Some _did _recognize our surname, Arellano, however. The story in circulation was that someone had broken into our home, murdered Father, and kidnapped his two daughters. I decided it was in my best interest to stick with that story.

Soon enough, I'd lost the bravery Lupa had taught me. I lost hope. My sister wasn't in Rome, and I could name a hundred cities where I'd be equally likely to find her. My search hit a dead end. Hylla was gone, and I had no way of finding her. The only chance I had left was my mother, who never responded to my prayers.

I was homeless, starving, and sick of hearing abhorrent propositions from men, most of whom were at least twice my age. I began crying in private when my thoughts got too dark. I struggled to find meaning in my life, but wasn't ready to give up on it yet. So I sought solace where most men in my situation did: the legion.

I was instantly laughed at, which didn't help my state of mind. Not only was I underage, but I was also female. They thought I was the last thing that should be enlisted into their ranks, insinuating they'd sooner put a pig in a suit of armor. I wasn't ready to give up. I hadn't yet lost my determination, so I challenged them. They thought that saying yes would bring in more entertainment, but their jaws fell when I won the duel. I told them my name, and they recognized it. They told me to come back in a week.

I did, and now I'm a trainee, a rank hitherto unheard of before me. Usually, new recruits are made probatios. My custom rank basically means I sleep in a shed refurbished for living quarters and spend my days doing chores. Near afternoon is when my personal instructor comes around to drill me on how to be a legionnaire and run me through training exercises. Since I'm already an adept fighter, he also chose to spend the spare allotted time teaching me Greek. I'm fed and supplied with a bed I can call mine, which is nice, but I'm still alone. Until I'm of age, that's my life. I still doubt it'll be improving from here.

I hope you're not waiting for me to get to the happy ending; I wouldn't be talking to you if there was one. I'm alone, only interact with a man of whom my opinion is indifference, and deal with gross remarks from the soldiers who are one day supposed to be my peers. When I'm alone, I just practice — fighting, Greek, anything at all — so I can keep my mind occupied. If I don't. . . I break down. I —

I — I thought I could d-do it. I thought I could m-make it through this with — without crying again. A l-lot of things I once thought have p-proven to be false. . .

Please stay with me. I — I know it's dumb that I'm asking that of something that d-doesn't exist, but I don't care. I just — don't want to be alone anymore.

* * *

Reyna, with a cowl obscuring her face and no sword at her hip, carefully snuck out of the castrum without being seen. She traversed the streets, posing as the lowly peasant girl no one would have a hard time taking her for. Her destination, a raised dais surrounded by a chattering crowd, soon came into view. There were soldiers all over the place, and she took care to avoid them as she attempted to get close enough to spectate the event.

From a distance, she could make out a handful of people atop the stage, but couldn't see clearly enough to identify any of them. She knew not by sight that one was an old man claiming the name Daedalus. Getting closer meant she could no longer see them, thanks to the people in front of her being taller than she.

Reyna had heard rumors about the accused in the form of differing stories. Most accepted that he was just a delirious elder who merely believed he was the real Daedalus. Due to the kept secret of why he was being executed without trial, others speculated that the old man actually _was_ the inventor of Greek legend. None had any idea how he could have lived so long, but the theory still held popularity. Reyna didn't buy into any of the rumors. What she knew for a fact was that an elderly man named Daedalus was being publicly executed, so she was going to see for herself why. She'd been forbidden from attending the beheading but would deal with the consequences later.

The crowd went quiet, and a faint voice could be heard coming from the center of attention. The trainee continued skirting the edges of the audience, trying to get closer. She soon managed to get near enough to hear what was being said and listened intently, not stopping in her attempts.

". . . undermine Rome's authority!" one man's powerful voice said.

"I accept my fate," said an aged voice. "You could at least do me the honor of reading me my supposed crimes. . ." He spoke one last word, but too softly for Reyna to hear.

"Minos has been dead for centuries, you senile old man. And we haven't got all day to stand here repeating what everyone already knows. Legionnaire, get it over with."

The young demigod, confused and alarmed, kept trying to push close enough to see. She failed. The crowd waited with bated breath, then the sword fell. She heard it clearly slam down onto the dais, followed by the thud of an object dropping. She froze with her eyes widened, the spectators cheering.

It didn't take long for the attendees to disperse after that, but it was too late. She finally caught sight of the stage to see no one left on it — only a frail corpse, its severed head rolling along the boards. It was a sight she wouldn't soon forget.

* * *

Hello. It's been a few days since I last spoke to you, and I think this will be the final time. I don't think I need you anymore, but it felt wrong to just up and leave you behind without a goodbye. There's no reason I _should_ feel that way, but I do. So I suppose I'll just explain why I'm doing this, for closure's sake.

I had to kill someone recently. I don't feel guilty about it, but it hadn't been my intention going into the situation, either. Long story short — a rapist put up a fight and gave me no opportunity to arrest him, which left me with only one choice. Being a legionnaire, I knew the day would eventually come that I'd have to take a life. I'd speculated how I'd feel when that day came. It turns out, I never came close to an accurate prediction.

When my sword left his body, and the blood started to pour out, I saw my father. I heard the sickening _schlick_ of him pulling his own knife from his side. And it was too much. I relived the worst day of my life in its entirety within a singular moment. I realized that I don't deserve what little I have. I'm a patricide, who was only allowed to join the legion because of who my father was. I'm benefiting from having committed one of the Republic's most punishable crimes.

I'm trying to determine what I would have done from there had I been left to my own devices. Maybe I'd have drowned in my own guilt, committed another crime by becoming a deserter just so I could find a way to punish myself. Perhaps I'd have pushed through it and buried it all down like I'd always done before, moving forward while my mind constantly told me I should be going backward. I don't know, and I can't begin to express how glad I am that I couldn't find out.

I feel like you've been waiting for this next part — and I don't mean just during this one interaction. I trust Jason now. About time, right?

When I got back to the castrum, I was finally able to accept that I shouldn't have been pushing him away. We've been friends a while now, but there's always been this part of me that felt like I shouldn't get my hopes up. I shouldn't start to rely on him, because one day I might not be able to. And when that time comes, I'll have forgotten how to survive on my own.

I regret this way of thinking. He taught me a new way, something even Lupa couldn't have done. He said to me, "Stop letting the past define you. Every time you wake up, you're a slightly different person than you were the day before. If you stop worrying about the you from eight years ago, the you of tomorrow won't hurt as much. And neither will the people who care about you." And that's all it took. That one saying was all I needed to gain perspective on how I've been living my life. And things are better now.

Despite how I just made it sound, it wasn't instantaneous. That's why it took me until now to tell you this story. I had to spend a lot of time thinking over the past few days, and I still don't think I'm entirely "there" yet. But that's the point, isn't it? My actions today impact the person who wears my skin tomorrow, so I should do my damndest to make her life a little bit better. But I'm learning to be happy, little by little, which is a far cry better than my previous wallowing and self-pity.

I have a friend. His name is Jason Grace, and I can lean on him when I need to. I know that now, which means he can also lean on me. I don't need an imaginary mute to listen to me anymore. So, thank you. And goodbye.


	44. Reyna II

"Well, that's it," Percy said, throwing his hands up in defeat as the merchant left the dock. "We're officially out of options."

"I don't know why you thought it'd be easy," said Reyna.

"I mean, it's never been hard before. When Jason and I went from Neapoli to Lamia, Gallio handed us a boat. And you didn't have a problem getting from Rome to Delphi."

"I _paid_ for my passage." Reyna absentmindedly played with the pearls on her necklace. "And Byzantium is a long way from Rome. We have no status here."

"Yeah, I know. I just thought that the hardest part of this would be actually finding your sister, not borrowing a boat."

"Not crazy," she agreed. "Maybe shortsighted."

"Well, thanks for that."

She smiled innocently.

"Can't we _try_ flying there?" he suggested.

"You said my mother told us to sail."

"She did," he intoned, as if he didn't see the relevance of the statement.

"Have you ever known a deity to misspeak?"

His shoulders slumped. "No."

"Then we have to sail."

"Well, I'm out of suggestions; you're out of suggestions. At least on Blackjack and Scipio, we'd be doing _something_. It's better than just waiting here for someone to let us borrow a ship."

"Come on, move!" A man carrying two boxes stepped off a gangplank and onto the dock, attempting to shove past them. "Get out of the way!"

"Apologies." Reyna took Percy's hand and pulled him aside so the worker could get by. Once he was gone, she led him to the end of the pier, where they weren't blocking anyone.

"Rude," Percy muttered, leering back at the man.

She rolled her eyes, then spoke gently. "Why haven't you tried your father?"

He turned his gaze out to the sea, forlorn. "I don't know. He said he wouldn't be able to talk to me that often, or be there when I needed him. And it just feels weird asking him for stuff, you know? Especially after he gave me that." He pointed at her throat, where her fingers were once again playing with her pearls.

"He's our only hope." Reyna touched his arm affectionately. "Try."

"Yeah, I know. I will. Let's go somewhere else, first. There's nowhere to moor here."

As they departed the full port, they passed by the same man from before, likely on his way to unload more cargo. He didn't give them a second glance, meaning he was either ignoring them or had already forgotten that they existed. Percy still seemed miffed, but didn't comment.

The pair managed to escape Byzantium's bustling harbor without annoying any other laborers. They strolled along the shores of the Hospitable Sea until Percy chose an arbitrary spot to stop. They were still in the city's limits, but far enough away from the nearest road to be alone. Percy knelt and placed his hand in the water, which seemed to dance in response to his touch.

"Hey, dad," he said, shifting awkwardly. "Sorry to bother you. You're probably busy with the whole catching up on the past ten or so years thing, but I could really use a bit of help. We need some kind of vessel so we can find Reyna's sister, and haven't had much luck in finding one the past couple days. Could you. . . send us something? Please? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. . . Percy."

He then stood and looked around, scratching the back of his head and waiting for something to happen. Nothing did, so he looked to Reyna, who was watching silently and trying to fight the smile forming at the corners of her mouth.

"How was that?" he asked.

"Did you just _sign_ your prayer?" she said.

He blinked. "Did I?"

She laughed, and he blushed.

"It's weird, alright?" he defended. "This is the first time I've prayed while _knowing_ he's listening. It's harder to find the right words."

"I'm sorry." She touched his cheek and looked into his eyes. "I get it. Not from experience, but I understand."

He took her wrist, brought her knuckles down to his lips for a moment, then laced his fingers through hers. "Well, do you think my inadequate praying skills will suffice?"

She looked away from his handsome face toward the sea, intending it to be only a glance, but found herself staring at something. From the corner of her eye, she could see him follow her gaze.

"I think so," she answered.

"Huh," he said. "I guess it was that easy."

A small commercial ship was looming nearer on the horizon, pointed directly at them without a doubt.

"We sure it's not just a coincidence?" said Percy. "Could be someone else's ship."

"It's not," said Reyna. "It's not angled properly to be going anywhere but here."

"They can still turn."

She sighed. "It's _ours_, Percy. Have some optimism."

"Fine, fine. I'm never letting you live this down if you're wrong, though."

* * *

As it turned out, Reyna wasn't wrong. The vessel had moored near the beach, allowing them to swim aboard. Not a single crew member occupied it, the ship seeming to have sailed itself there. This, they found, wasn't actually a problem as Percy was able to control the entire thing — oars and all — with only his will. He barely had to move his hands for the various workings of the ship to autonomously fly into action.

Reyna found herself struggling not to be jealous. Her betrothed could control water, make earthquakes, communicate with equines, and sail an entire ship through willpower alone. _She _could fight better than almost anyone, lend her strength to others, and that was about it for her special demigod abilities. Although the woman didn't discount what few powers she had, she couldn't help feeling humbled by the people she was close to. When the man you love is pretty much an unstoppable force of nature, and your dead friend had been able to channel lightning, control the winds, and manipulate the weather, what makes you special?

She didn't voice these thoughts, partly because only half of her believed them, but mostly because she knew Percy would drown her with praise and support if she did. Although uncomfortable with being lectured about how amazing she was, knowing he would do it while believing every word made her heart flip over in her chest. The man truly loved her. He was hers and no one else's, and she was his. That bond was among the most important things she possessed, and nothing could ever take it away from her.

"You look tired," said Percy. He was standing at the bow, his hands gripping the railing. A look of concentration painted his face, even while he was watching her.

"No," she lied.

He stared.

"Well, what about you?" she said.

"I'll drop anchor and swap with you in a bit. Same drill as on land."

"This exertion has to be wearing you down more than normal."

"Reyna, just get some sleep. Are you going to make me beg you?"

"Hmm." She pretended to look contemplative. "No, though I _do_ like to see you beg."

He smiled. "Another time."

She kissed him, lingering on his lips for a few seconds before pulling away. "Don't push yourself too hard."

"I'll try not to."

She soon found herself beneath the deck at the cabin's entrance, having barely registered the walk there. She might have simply fallen straight into bed and fallen asleep with equally little recognition, had the door not opened before she could grip the handle. She snapped alert and then drew her sword, her reflexes only slightly slower than they would have been when she had energy.

Inside, a chair rested on only two legs with its back leaned against the wall. On it lounged a well-dressed man playing with a lump of clay, his feet kicked up on the table in front of him. His obsidian hair was tied back in a ponytail, which left every bit of his deeply scarred face uncovered. He bore dark gray eyes that stared right through her, looking as if they could see into her thoughts.

"Who are you?" Reyna demanded. "Explain yourself!"

The stranger tutted, the clay in his fingers beginning to take shape without him even looking at it. "Such disrespect. I present you a gift in your time of need, and then you point a weapon at me. The least I ask is to be shown some courtesy."

"The boat?" she said after a moment's thought.

"Of course. You didn't actually think Poseidon had the time to fulfill your lover's prayer, did you? Those elder gods are busy enough on good days, but to call their present lives hectic would be an understatement. A lot happened while we were asleep." He stopped modeling the clay and then rested his sculpture on the tip of his finger. A tiny bird with a hunched back began to move as if it were alive after he held a candle's flame to it.

"We?" she said. "You're a god?"

Color spread across the bird, quickly losing any qualities that distinguished the material it had just been made from. It tried to take flight, but then the man violently closed his hand around it, crushing it to pebbles.

"I'm a titan," he corrected.

"Prometheus," she said, recognizing his short-lived creation to have been a vulture.

He tapped his nose and smiled.

"What do you want?" said Reyna.

Prometheus sighed. "Still with the hostility. What I want, is for you to put that away" — he pointed at her still raised sword — "and for you to close the door so we can have a nice chat. I'm here to help, after all."

"Why would you want to help us?"

He stared expectantly. Seconds passed, then she relented.

"That's better," he said.

"Why would you want to help us?" Reyna repeated, now seated across from the titan.

"Why are you so guarded? Don't you realize I'm the _good_ titan? I supported Jupiter-Zeus —" for a moment, his body flickered to a slightly different form and he spoke the names with two voices at the same time, then he returned to normal and continued as if nothing had happened "— in the war against my uncle. What reason do you have to distrust me?"

She remembered the tales, which alone were reason enough. Though the real cause for her suspicions was the last one she would think to voice.

"You're not on the gods' side," she told him. "You're only on your own. How long were you chained to that rock before Hercules came around to save you? Jupiter only demanded from you a name, yet you kept it secret and endured the punishment instead."

He stared at her knowingly, a mischievous smirk on his lips. "You know, I was rather disappointed to awake from my slumber to find that one of my most valuable possessions was missing."

"What are you insinuating?" Reyna said with a straight face.

"That a thief, or thieves, invaded my sanctum during my forced rest."

"I've never been to your sanctum," she said truthfully. "I haven't stolen a thing from you."

"Indeed you have not. I never suggested you did. If you've not wronged me, why should you believe I'm here with anything other than good intentions? And for the record, I _did_ eventually tell Jupiter-Zeus —" it was the same as before "— what he wanted to know. There's a reason he's married to Juno-Hera —" once more "— instead of Thetis, after all."

"Because you feared the child that she would have borne him would also be a threat to you?"

Prometheus chuckled. "You're a smart girl. I knew I wasn't mistaken."

"Mistaken about _what_?"

"It's true. I often look out for myself before I do the gods. I _am_ a titan, after all. I chose to support them during the Titanomachy because it was in my best interest; I foresaw their victory. I choose my allegiances carefully and often. But know that I've _always_ had humanity's best interests at heart. I _created_ you — the first iteration, at the least. And I tricked Jupiter-Zeus so your ancestors could feast on the better half of an ox. Most importantly, I gave you _fire_." The flame on the candle he was still holding flared up to five times its size, then shrank back down a moment later.

"You've done a lot for us," Reyna admitted. "That doesn't change the facts. You're infamous for your cunning and deceit. Why should I trust you?"

The titan set the candle down then lowered his feet, the chair dropping so that all four legs touched the floor. He stared through the flame, positioned perfectly in the middle of them, and into Reyna's eyes.

"Jason had Juno, Perseus has Vesta-Hestia," he said, once again doing that strange thing with the two names. "Wouldn't you want a patron deity of your own?" He smiled and spread his arms wide in a welcoming gesture. "One less thing to be jealous of."

"Stay _out_ of my head," Reyna seethed, her nails digging into the arms of her chair.

Prometheus's hands dropped to the table, and he sighed. "So you'll need some evidence, then? Fine. Most gods wouldn't allow one to speak to them with as much disdain as you've shown me, and I'm certain no other titan would. And there you still sit, not a hair harmed. I've given you this boat that you so desperately needed. And usually I punish thieves brazen enough to break into my sanctum — a severed finger or two is often sufficient. I've decided to make an exception for this most recent intrusion. Remember that the next time you're enjoying his —" he pointed toward the ceiling "— hands at night."

Reyna shot to her feet, primed to draw her sword. "Don't you _dare_ threaten him!"

"I haven't," Prometheus asserted. "I'm only speaking plainly. I meant no insinuation."

"If you hurt him —"

"I wouldn't dream of it. Please sit down. You mistake my meaning."

"Do I? Either you're threatening to maim my intended or are expecting praise for not having already done so. Or is there a different interpretation I should have instead?"

Reyna hated him. That was all it took. She didn't care that he was a titan with the power to snuff out her life at any moment or that she was indebted to him for the ship. She was angry and tired and refused to be talked to like that. She wouldn't stand for it or that stupid smile that perpetually decorated his mouth.

"Perhaps it's best we move on," Prometheus said in an attempt to calm her.

"Indeed," she agreed, her body stiff. "Let's move on to the part where you leave."

"You shouldn't make rash decisions," he reasoned, not unkindly.

"I've already made it."

He matched her stare for a few seconds. "So be it." The titan stood and walked to the door, her eyes following him all the while, then he turned to face her, as calm as ever. "One last thing, before I go."

She gave no sign of consent or refusal.

"You may reject me being your patron — very well then. But I still have a vested interest in seeing you succeed. So I'll leave you with some pieces of advice. First, there is still plenty you do not yet know, and your time is not wasted learning it. Second, don't fear returning to your roots if you feel that is what you must do. There's no shame in reneging on a past decision. Third, love knows no distance. Lastly, the future is eternal. There's never a rush to do things now that can be done later."

"Is that all?"

He hesitated. "I understand you had a difficult childhood, and you're strong to not let it define you. You had a complicated father. We have that in common. Mine is known to be the least cruel of his siblings, though that doesn't say all that much. His nickname is apt, mostly proven when he is betrayed, but he has been known to listen to reason. But I digress. You can keep the boat. It was a gift, after all."

Once the door closed behind him, Reyna relaxed and released a shaky breath.

* * *

Reyna sheathed her sword and set it aside, certain that she could get it no sharper. Her head thunked against the mast and she began to chew her lip, annoyed that she'd exhausted herself of things to do. Who could've known that sailing would be so dreadfully dull? In other circumstances, she'd be glad for the chance to spend a couple of days in peaceful isolation with the love of her life, but she may as well have been spending it alone. Percy needed to focus on controlling the ship, so the two didn't get many chances to spend time together. He'd taken a handful of breaks, that was true, but for the most part, he'd constantly been at the helm or bow. His longest breaks were when he slept. Even then she had to be on deck to watch for sea monsters or, more unlikely, pirates. At least when she left Rome there had been a whole crew to converse or gamble with.

Tedium getting the better of her, Bellona's daughter pushed herself to her feet and strapped her weapon back to her hip. Selfishly, she traipsed up to the helm where a captain would typically shout orders to the oarsmen. She found there not a captain, but her dutiful beloved. She took place beside him and rubbed his back with one hand.

"How are you holding up?" she said.

"Honestly? Better than I thought I would," he answered without moving his concentrated gaze from the sea ahead.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know how to describe it. I've been feeling more. . . effective? Yeah, I'll go with that. Every day since the merger, I've been feeling more effective at using my powers. I can go for longer, and it tires me less. It's like a stream inside of me is widening into a river."

"You and your father draw from the same pool. As he grows stronger, I suppose you do too."

"I hadn't thought about that. Real useful now that our biggest threats are already dealt with."

"Don't say that," Reyna warned.

"What? Superstitious all of a sudden?"

"No, but you know as well as I that empty challenges like that don't always go unanswered."

"I'll take your word for it. I retract my statement!" he announced to the heavens.

She smiled, then gave him one more pat on the shoulder before walking off to stop distracting him. She stopped at the edge of the ship then leaned over the railing to stare down at the Hospitable Sea.

What a strange name, the woman thought. It was made even stranger by the fact that she knew it used to be called the Inhospitable Sea. She had to wonder what happened to turn the body of water to its polar opposite. One day it had been deemed inimical; the next it was considered welcoming. What had changed? Did the water spontaneously become more sailable, or had the Greeks merely learned to stop irrationally fearing it? Most likely, they'd renamed it to _make_ it seem more inviting. Still, she was curious why they'd named it the Inhospitable Sea in the first place. The water took on a dark hue, which many could consider ominous. Had it been that, or was it related to the thing currently lurking at the base of the ship?

Her previously distracted gaze shot down to catch a glimpse of a pair of bright, round eyes staring up at her. She didn't get a chance to identify their owner. The second she looked upon them, whatever it was darted down and swam away with incredible velocity. She couldn't be sure, but the irises had looked green, like Percy's, but feminine. Reyna watched and waited, but the creature didn't reappear. She turned and glanced back at her beloved, who didn't seem to have noticed anything.

Deciding not to waste his time with it just yet, she moved to the other side of the ship to investigate by herself. The woman stared out over the water again and pretended to be deep in thought. She allowed her eyes to go out of focus, though not enough to cloud her vision. She waited stared, her gaze wandering to look anywhere but directly beneath her.

For a while, her patience yielded her nothing. She was considering moving to a different part of the vesse. Then she saw a tiny movement out of the bottom of her eye, almost indistinct enough not to notice. Fearing the creature would shy away again, Reyna continued to stare ahead. She feigned not to notice it until she was sure an appropriate amount of time had passed. Then, she ambled away from the boat's edge and toward Percy, not making any sudden movements when turning away from the railings.

Her hope that it wouldn't flee at the sight of a son of Poseidon came true. Several minutes later, he wrapped up a conversation he'd been having with it while she waited out of sight. He then turned to Reyna with a triumphant grin on his face.

"It was a Nereid!" he explained. "A sea nymph."

"Oh?" She arched an eyebrow and frowned. "Why are you so pleased about that?"

The Nereids are told to be quite beautiful.

He gave her a strange look. "Well she wasn't a monster, for one. For another, she told us where we need to go."

"Really?" Her tone was surprised, and her face betrayed her excitement.

"She didn't know anything about Hylla, but apparently there's this magical barrier that hides a portion of land from view. And now I know where it is and how to get through it."

"A magic barrier? Hmm. I can't think of why that'd exist were it not hiding something."

"Exactly! I'm willing to hope that your sister or a clue to lead us to her is behind it."

Although she immediately scolded herself for it, she was hoping the exact same thing.

* * *

Reyna stood at Percy's side, her knuckles white as she clutched the wooden barrier. The sky was darkening and it had begun to rain unexpectedly, which only added to her discomfort. At present, Percy was sailing the ship directly at a rocky spire poking above sea level, located not too far away from the shore. Meanwhile, Reyna was starting to doubt whether that Nereid had given him accurate information. She wished she could have listened in on that conversation along with Aurum and Argentum, but she hadn't wanted to risk scaring her away again.

"Percy, are you sure about this?" she said. She was slightly shivering and wanted to hug her arms to her chest, but was more concerned about losing balance than the cold.

"You worry too much," he replied dismissively.

She bit her tongue, staring at the rock, growing more and more anxious as they sped toward it. There was no chance of the ship surviving the collision, of that she was certain. The woman would do anything to be reunited with her lost sibling, but worried what this risk would cost them if it didn't pan out in their favor. Her mother had explicitly told Percy that they needed to sail, which they could no longer do if their boat sank. Still, she kept quiet. She couldn't fight the determined look on Percy's face.

The spire was close enough to be hit with an arrow now. Reyna held her breath, and Percy urged the boat faster. The water drops beat down on them more furiously. The distance rapidly closed, and then, just when they should have collided with the stone formation, the hull lurched. Reyna's stomach rose to her throat and she was thrown against the railing, and she heard nothing but waves. The weather had cleared and she'd missed the sound of splintering wood. It hadn't felt like a crash, but more like the boat had risen into the air and dropped again without a splash.

"Aha!" Percy exclaimed. "I told you we'd be fine."

The sky was suddenly clear, though still dark. The shore was farther away now and took on a different shape than before. To their left was a small peninsula that hadn't existed a moment ago, and ahead was a vast beach specked with palm trees. Where the beach ended, a dense woodland began.

Reyna pushed herself back on balance and finally released the rails. She crossed her arms tightly, still cold and wet. A sigh of relief escaped her lips before she could even think to lie and say she hadn't been worried.

The boat slowed and Percy turned to her, likely due to her lack of a response. "Oh, sorry. Let me get that."

He slapped an invisible face between them. The rainwater flew off of Reyna, following the stroke, and left her completely dry. She smiled gratefully. That alone had been enough to make her feel warmer, but him wrapping his arms around her was even better. She clasped her hands behind his back and placed her chin on his shoulder. She would've been happy to stay like that for hours, but unfortunately, the moment didn't last.

"Percy?" she said with a worried tone. "What is _that_?"

He let go of her and spun around to see what she was seeing. An unnatural, shimmering ball of light had risen from the sea and now hovered above the deck. Reyna's hand shot toward her hip, then stilled. She clapped her hands twice, _then _drew her sword. Two metal hounds, one gold and one silver, clopped onto the floor at either side of her.

Percy continued to stare for a few seconds before seemingly coming to some sort of realization. "Oh no."

A moment later, his arrival as mysterious as the automatons', a hulking man replaced the light orb. He was a head taller than Percy and well-muscled. His hair was messy and its color, along with his eyes, matched Argentum's body. Standing up beside him and equalling his height, a black spear rested in his grip. He stared with narrowed eyes, a look of cold fury directed at Percy, but Reyna thought she sensed an air of reluctance about him. His face also looked vaguely familiar to her.

"Demigod," said the stranger, his voice not as deep as she'd been expecting. "Stand and fight."

"I think you have the wrong guy," Percy said. Aurum and Argentum growled.

"Impossible. You challenged me, and I'm here to accept. Stand and fight."

"I challenged you?" Percy sounded genuinely confused. "I don't remember that."

"You took my brother's scythe," the man explained impatiently. "And you spoke in the Tongue of the Old Times, a verbal challenge that led you to it. Then you fled with the prize you had not earned. I repeat: stand and fight!"

Reyna swore under her breath, surprised to find that Percy had done the same. She wasn't sure exactly which part had upset him, but _she_ was angry as she now owed Prometheus for something else.

"Iapetus," she said, placing the family resemblance. "Titan Lord of the West."

The silver-haired man gave the subtlest nod of confirmation.

Percy looked at her, then back at the titan. "I didn't know what that meant. Your son tricked me!"

"And you tricked him," said Iapetus. "Fair is fair."

The son of Poseidon didn't have a response.

"Perhaps we can come to an arrangement," Reyna reasoned.

"There will be no arrangement," Iapetus maintained. "We shall fight to the death. The victor gets to leave this ship."

"But you're immortal!" Percy protested. "You can't die!"

"And you can't win. You should have considered these things before you challenged me."

Reyna put a hand on Percy's shoulder and silenced him with a look. "Let me handle this," she whispered.

He nodded.

"There's nothing to handle, girl," said the titan.

"There is," Reyna argued. "We don't want to fight you."

"We?" He laughed. "There will be no 'we'. It's him against me and no other way."

"There has to be something you want more than to kill him."

"It matters not. There will be a fight. The Tongue of the Old Times is not to be used to tell lies. There will be a fight."

Reyna wracked her brain helplessly, receiving no suggestions from Percy. Finally, fearful, she said, "Then we should at least lay down fair terms."

"Fair? Was it fair for him to steal the scythe while I slumbered, weak and helpless? Don't talk to me about fair!"

"If you want us to compromise, then you should too."

His eyes narrowed even further, but his lips did not part.

"It has to be possible for either of you to win," Reyna reasoned. "You can't die, so a fight to the death would be a rigged challenge."

"Ooh!" said Percy. "First one to knock the other overboard wins."

Iapetus growled. "Don't think I don't know your bloodline, demigod. You want a fair fight? Fine. Here are my terms. The victor is he who makes his opponent bleed, then the duel ends. Neither combatant can be aided by anyone else. I win, you return the scythe or surrender your life. You win, I leave and we never see each other again."

Reyna looked nervously at Percy to gauge what he thought, shocked to see that he was already stepping forward and saying, "I accept."

Iapetus smiled and took his spear into both hands.

"On the Styx!" Reyna interjected, knowing there was no going back now. "You both need to agree on the Styx."

The titan glared at her. "Do you think me without honor, girl?"

She didn't respond, her free hand back to fiddling with her necklace.

"Fine. I swear to abide by my stated terms on the River Styx."

"Me too," said Percy. "On the Styx."

Two consecutive claps of thunder shook the sky.

"Now stand and fight," Iapetus said a final time.

Percy drew his sword and then hopped over the barrier that divided the helm from the lower deck. He took a stance, the titan doing the same, and Reyna could only watch with a taut face, wishing the rain hadn't stopped. The competitors circled each other, the sea and winds still, as if they too were waiting for the battle to unfold.

Percy's back was to the port side when a floorboard creaked under his boot. At that same moment, Iapetus took the first strike. He dashed forward with great speed and thrust the tip of his spear forward with enough force to split a mountain in two. Percy sidestepped and swung low, the titan deftly deflecting it with the butt of his weapon, immediately countering into a thrust with the same end. Percy was struck flat in the chest and thrown backward, toppling over the side of the boat. Reyna smiled as a splash met her ears.

Two seconds of silence passed. Iapetus took a cautious step toward where the son of Poseidon had disappeared, then the boat lurched. Reyna caught herself on the barrier, and the titan needed only to readjust his weight. Not even a moment later, he turned just in time to brace for the massive wave about to strike him in the back. Percy shot up and landed behind him, but he swiftly pivoted to block the second surprise attack.

The melee ensued without either missing a beat, but it became unfortunately apparent that Percy was incredibly outmatched. The titan's attacks came rapidly and unceasingly, openings for retaliation few and far in between. Even with the sea aiding him from every angle, it was all Percy could do to defend himself. His speed was a third of the titan's and only his cleverness kept his blood inside his veins where it belonged.

At one point, it looked as if Percy had gotten lucky. He landed his signature kick to the chest and, with the help of a blast of water, made Iapetus stumble. The titan, however, also had tricks up his sleeve. He took a long step back, further increasing the distance between them. Then, with rapidity that only a deity could achieve, launched his weapon through the air as if it were a javelin. It flew with more velocity than any arrow. Poseidon's son was slow enough to react that a tear appeared on his tunic. Both combatants paused while he touched the skin beneath it, but his hands came up clean.

Percy then had to dodge Iapetus's fists, leaping backwards and swiping his sword, the blade bouncing off armored wrists. He dodged another attack, then one more, the two effectively having swapped positions. Percy held his sword ready, preparing for the next strike, but the titan took a step back. Confused but undeterred, the demigod lunged forward, only to have his blow parried by the spear that had unexpectedly flown back to Iapetus's hand, Reyna's eyes having followed it the entire way while her tongue was trapped between her teeth. The silver-eyed man took a moment to cockily grin at his opponent's surprised expression before lunging once more.

Once the titan's ability had been revealed, although seemingly not possible a moment ago, the fight got a lot more difficult for Percy. Iapetus continued in his assault with improved vigor, his weapon at several times having left his hands entirely but never losing the upper hand. Percy, gods save him, was taking a beating. He vehemently avoided contact with the blade with everything he had, having to absorb blunt attacks at times to do so. Despite this, he had still yet to sustain a wound. Reyna was increasingly fearful of how much longer that would persist.

Eventually, Percy made the questionable decision to jump onto the ship's rails. She was sure that that would be the end for him, as Iapetus expectedly chose to remain on the deck and take advantage of his restricted movement. Then, somehow, the demigod pulled off the strangest combat maneuver she'd ever seen. For five seconds, he nimbly danced around on the narrow platform while dodging Iapetus's attacks. Finally, the spear was thrust toward his face, apparently what he'd been waiting for. To avoid becoming another of the Piercer's victims, Percy fell backward, but didn't hit the sea before gripping the shaft first. His weight pulled the titan — whose grasp hadn't slackened — off balance enough for a well-placed wave to be able to pick him up and drag him after Percy. From there, it was over.

Reyna rushed to look over the edge of the boat, but saw nothing. After a whole minute, a small circle of the surface was colored a faded gold. Percy launched from the sea and landed on deck triumphantly, then Iapetus climbed aboard. Both men sheathed their weapons, Percy disguising his fear behind a grin. Iapetus didn't look any angrier than before, but now bore a gash atop the back of his hand.

"You've bested me," Iapetus said to Percy. Argentum snarled, but Aurum remained silent.

"So you'll leave us alone?" said Percy.

The soaking wet titan nodded. "And you'll never see me again."

With no further preamble, he stepped backwards onto the railing, then fell toward the sea as Percy had demonstrated a moment before. They never heard him hit the water.

* * *

"We need to look around before it starts to get dark," said Reyna.

Without opening his eyes, Percy said, "But looking around would mean leaving the water."

Reyna sighed. She was standing on dry land, shading her eyes from the sun with her hand while her frighteningly powerful intended was lying peacefully in the surf, the tides continually beating up on him.

"If we need to set up for a night," she said, "I'd at least like to say we've made some progress. We don't even know if this is the right shore."

"It seems pretty southeasternmost to me," Percy replied. "And the magic barrier had to have plopped us here for a reason. We'll find something here."

"Not if we stay on the beach until we're unable to see."

"Just give me a few more minutes. Fighting titans takes a lot of you."

She stared at him, and felt guilty. She'd waited years to see her sister again, spending almost all of it not even knowing whether she was still alive. She should be able to wait a few more minutes, or even a night. But she couldn't.

"My mother told you we'd find her where the monster population is densest," she said stubbornly. "She could be in danger."

Two seconds he resisted before standing up and taking one last longing look at the waves. "Sorry, beach. People in danger come first." Walking out of the water's reach, he immediately started to look weary. "Ugh. I thought that'd have a lasting effect."

Reyna kissed him, at the same time lending him her strength. She felt it first as an unnatural heat in her breast, then it dimmed and faded as half of it coursed out of her and into him. The kiss was unnecessary, but she didn't care.

He gave her a grateful smile, already looking more spry. "That helps."

"Thank you," she said, putting as much sincerity into her voice as she possibly could. "Now let's get moving."

"Okay. Time to search this massive forest."

"All we need is some sort of clue or trail to know we're close. Hopefully that won't take long."

"Or," he countered, "we find the monsters."

* * *

It was a couple of hours later that they finally found something other than untouched woods. The sun was nearing the horizon and Reyna was growing impatient. She knew Percy would suggest soon that they make camp for the night, and she also knew she wouldn't object when that time came. She was hoping it wouldn't come.

"There it is again," she said, halting and looking into the vegetation.

"It's just another animal," Percy said, having also heard it.

"I'm not so sure. I think we're being watched."

"By animals?"

"If only."

They proceeded forth with caution, both on high alert and their weapons drawn. Eventually, they heard something more substantial than shuffling leaves — giggling. A number of girls, voices of an age no older than sixteen, were tittering animatedly somewhere up ahead, out of sight. The pair of demigods inched forward noiselessly and slowly.

"Hello!"

Reyna whipped around and leveled her weapon at the speaker — a young maiden crossing her eyes to stare at the sharp point in front of her nose. She looked completely normal except for her malachite-colored hair and skin that took on a green tinge wherever humans had pink. She had a petite figure that would have been left bare were it not for the leaves woven into just enough clothing to cover her delicate parts.

The tip of the blade fell and its owner retreated a step. The girl giggled and batted her eyelashes at Percy, who blinked cluelessly. Reyna stepped in front of him.

"Have you been following us?" she said.

"Hm? Oh, no, definitely not." The stranger pointed at a random oak. "That's my tree. I try not to go too far from it."

"Your tree?" said Percy. "You're a dryad."

She smiled. "Yep! I'm Poly."

"There are more of you?" Reyna nudged her head toward the giggling.

"Mhm." Poly nodded. "Lots of us live in these hinterlands. Far from mean lumberjacks, so we can live peacefully."

"We're looking for someone," Percy explained. "Can you help us?"

"For you, cutie? Sure!"

Reyna's eyes narrowed and she bit her tongue.

"Her name's Hylla," said Percy. "She might bear a resemblance to Reyna here." He put his arm around her shoulder, which made her relax a bit.

"Hmm. No, not seen anyone that looks like her. Maybe you can give me a clue or hint that might help?"

"She's supposed to be where the monster population is densest," said Reyna.

"Oh! That probably means the city!"

Percy and Reyna looked at each other.

"What city?" said the son of Poseidon.

"There are no cities anywhere close to here," said Reyna.

"None that the mortals would know about." Poly winked. "But there's one hidden away here at the heart of the forest. It draws a lot of attention from monsters." She shuddered. "Keeps the warriors busy."

"Warriors?"

"Oh, you'll see."

"How do we get there?" said Percy.

Poly knit her brow and put her chin in her fingers. "Hmm. I mean, I know _where_ it is, but don't really know how to direct you. To you humans, all trees look the same, and there's not much else between here and there."

"You could try giving us a direction to walk in," Reyna suggested.

"Nah. But. . . hmm. If you can convince my sisters, the other dryads between here and the city could point you there."

"So how do we convince your sisters?" said Percy.

"Well put away your swords, for one. We don't like pointy things."

She waited while they followed her advice.

"Second," said Poly, "fall for the prank they're planning to pull on you right now. Or maybe don't fall for it. I'm not sure whether it's better for them to be amused or impressed."

"What prank?" said Percy.

"I don't know. They're _so_ indecisive."

Reyna's eyes narrowed. "And what have _you_ been doing?"

"Distracting you, duh."

Reyna pinched the bridge of her nose. She'd never met a dryad before, and not heard Percy ever having mentioned one, either. From this experience alone, she wouldn't care to meet another one in the future. They were likely a lot older than she, but had the maturity of children.

The giggling stopped. When Reyna started to turn to eye the direction it had been coming from, a _pop!_ met her ears. Looking back, she found that Poly was gone. Then a shrill scream reverberated throughout the woods. Percy was prompt in running toward it, blade drawn. Reyna sighed, then chased after him a moment later.

What happened next was not wholly unexpected, at least not for her. Her impetuous beloved sprinted through the trees until he tripped over a tree root that had not been there a moment ago. He tumbled headfirst into a tiny piece of land devoid enough of trees that what little sunlight was left shone down on it from above. There were no damsels in distress in sight.

"Yoink!" A new dryad picked up the sword that had left his grip and then scurried up a tree, now sitting on a branch with her feet kicking back and forth beneath her. She gingerly held the weapon's handle as if the blade would catch fire at any moment.

The giggling resumed, much closer now, as Reyna pulled Percy to his feet. More wood nymphs appeared on branches and were staring down smugly at them.

"Oh gods," said Percy with a sarcastic tone. "I'm so humiliated."

A ball of leaves exploded over his head, forming a small pile around his feet. This was met with more laughter. Percy shook himself clean.

Reyna picked a leaf out of his hair and let it float to the ground before looking up at the dryads. "Excuse me! Could —"

Another ball of leaves fell, this time aimed for her. The daughter of Bellona expertly rolled out of the way in time, leaving only Percy to get hit in the crossfire.

"Spoilsport!" one of the girls shouted.

"We need directions!" Reyna said. "Could you _please_ point us to the city?"

"And can I have my sword back?" Percy added.

The dryads whispered among each other for a spell, before coming to a unanimous decision. One finally said, "Only if you play a game with us."

Both Reyna and Percy were hesitant to respond, but he spoke up first. "What kind of game?"

* * *

"Let's not talk about this again," Percy said as the two walked in the direction the dryads had pointed them.

Reyna smirked at him. "No? I could talk about this for a while."

"Please don't."

She shrugged and kept her mouth shut. A dryad popped out of a tree and pointed in the exact direction they were already walking, giggling as they walked by. Very helpful, Reyna thought.

Eventually, the path did deviate from just a straight line, at which point Reyna's sarcastic observation lost the sarcasm. Every bit of forest ahead of them looked exactly the same as the lands behind them. It would take little effort to get lost in here without guidance. Luckily all they had to do was follow the giggling.

Soon, the woods began to thin. The distance between trees grew and the now night's sky became visible, a stunning crescent moon shining brightly. The air got cooler, but it was still comfortably warm. It was peaceful enough that Reyna's anxiousness started to drop, but not entirely. She found it suspicious that they'd yet to face any monsters since coming to land. Although if what Poly said was true, it might just be because their attention was on something bigger than them.

Then the dryads stopped appearing. The two kept walking according to the last direction they'd been given, but after a few minutes had to begin to worry if they were going the right way. Calling out for the dryads yielded naught, so they just warily forged ahead, hoping the wood nymphs had left because they were close enough now and not because they'd been frightened by something.

For three seconds, the only thing that could be heard was that of weapons leaving their sheaths, the demigod lovers' included. They were surrounded, back to back, by half a dozen female warriors, all looking quite mean. Reyna saw hesitation in their faces, which Percy took advantage of.

"We don't want to fight you," he said. "We came here for Hylla."

"What?" A woman with auburn hair spoke in Greek, her brow furrowed.

Percy repeated himself in his native tongue. There was probably a valid reason why his statement immediately enraged them and caused them to attack, but Reyna didn't know it. All further attempts at negotiation failed, so they were forced to fight.

The son of the earthshaker began with a small quake that knocked the warriors off balance. Reyna didn't hesitate to use the opportunity, swinging her sword and swiftly taking two down nonlethally. The remaining fighters closed in, likely too near for Percy to try his trick again without also upsetting Reyna. From there, they were on even grounds.

The women were highly skilled and had them outnumbered. If the two demigods weren't so good at fighting alongside each other, there might have been cause for concern. But soon enough, they stood victorious. The last one to get knocked down was the one who'd spoken before. She'd put up a tough fight, but couldn't fend off both of them.

"We're sorry for this," Reyna said to them as they were still groaning on the ground without their weapons. "We didn't come here to fight. I'm just looking for my sister."

"Sister?" The auburn-haired girl looked up with a knitted brow and stared at her intently.

"We were led here by my mother and some annoying but helpful nymphs. I think she might be in your city."

"Reyna." Her eyes were widened.

The daughter of Bellona stared, mouth agape.

"You know her?" said Percy.

"I know of her. I can't believe I didn't see it at first. You look a lot like her."

"So you know my sister?" Her voice was about as soft as it's ever been.

The woman stood, rubbing her shoulder, and approached Reyna, a smile on her lips. "Yes, I know her. She'll be so happy to see you."

Reyna couldn't say anything else. Her heart was beating fiercely and warmly in her chest. Right now, this strange woman was her favorite person in the world, as she was going to reunite her with her sister.

"Ladies," the warrior announced to the others. "This was clearly a misunderstanding. Pick yourselves up and return to patrol. I'm taking these two to see the queen."

* * *

The city was quite stunning. Reyna had never seen anything like it. It was settled on a massive glade and surrounded by stone walls twice the height of what you'd see in any mortal city, spikes jutting out beneath the parapets. A deep moat surrounded the ramparts, the bottom filled with actual flowing magma. She could feel the heat as she crossed the mechanical bridge made from iron, which had lowered at their approach. The actual entrance to the grand settlement wasn't barred, allowing her to see directly through to hundreds of buildings constructed only from stone, metal, and thatch. There wasn't a single piece of lumber in sight.

"Your sword." One of the four female guards flanking the entrance at the end of the bridge was holding her hand out to Percy, waiting.

"Why?" he said.

"If you are to be a guest in New Otreria, you are to follow our customs, male," she answered harshly.

"Fine. I better get this back, though."

Reyna started to unstrap her own sheathed weapon, but was stopped.

"Not you," said the guard. "You can keep yours."

"What? Why only him?" Bellona's daughter asked.

"Only women are fighters here," said the auburn-haired warrior beside her, whose name they'd learned was Kinzie. "Men are not permitted to carry weapons."

"Ideally, there'll be no _need_ to fight while we're here. You'll probably want this too, then," said Percy.

"Indeed." The guard took the knife Reyna had once given him. "These will be returned on your departure."

Kinzie guided them through the cobblestone streets, passing by numerous armed women going about their days, every last one looking as if they were ready to fight at any moment. She noticed many that were not fighters, but still richly dressed and carrying themselves with an air of superiority. Men also walked about, but none appeared more important than simple laborers. Some were bound in shackles and others walked free, all bowing to the female fighters they crossed paths with. No one they passed looked particularly unhappy, not even the men in chains.

The castle was the real highlight. It stood at about a quarter of Jupiter/Zeus's palace on Olympus, which is still quite substantial. Its walls were constructed primarily out of marble, which contrasted with the rest of the buildings in the area, these predominated by sandy-colored limestone and other stone varieties of grey hues. The castle also had some gold details here and there that you couldn't see anywhere else in New Otreria. The entire structure's elegance stood out like a sore thumb.

As they approached, Reyna found it strange how poorly defended it looked. Other than the outer walls and the archers keeping watch atop them, there was very little keeping it safe from intruders. It didn't have a separate moat or another retractable bridge. Even the entrance had no barred gate or guards. It was as if an attack there was the last thing they were expecting.

Entering the castle, they were immediately met with what looked to be the throne room. None of the braziers or torches were lit, which made it challenging to see that the chair itself was empty, along with the rest of the room.

"This way," Kinzie said, taking stride toward a door on the wall behind the throne. "She'll be in the courtyard, or her chambers."

"What if she's asleep?" said Reyna.

"She's not." There was no doubt in her tone.

A couple of minutes later, they were out the building's back exit and into the courtyard, where a lone woman was hacking away at a training dummy. Reyna froze in place, heart pounding beneath her breast. Percy stood silently at her side, his mere presence supportive enough.

"Hylla!" Kinzie ran up to the woman, who ceased her assault and lowered a pair of shortswords to her sides.

"You're back early," she said, turning to face the other warrior. She hadn't noticed Reyna yet.

Reyna barely had enough room left in her brain to process the two women embracing in a kiss, and not enough to be surprised by it. A dozen different thoughts were going through her mind at that moment, yet she couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Kinzie pulled away from the kiss, then whispered something to her apparent lover. They both turned to look at Reyna, one's eyes widening and jaw dropping, the other saying, "Reyna Arellano, Perseus. You stand before her majesty Hylla Arellano, queen of the Amazons."

Too fast for Reyna's addled mind to comprehend, she was gripped in a bone-crushing hug, and a moment later she found herself sobbing into her sister's shoulder.

* * *

"I can't believe we played those damned dryads' game for nothing," Percy said as he closed the shutter to their inn room's window. Before that, you could see through it to a small port, moored at which were two simple vessels that didn't look to get a lot of use. "All we had to do was sail around that little piece of land and we'd have been straight here."

"You still don't want to talk about it?" Reyna was presently removing her armor and readying for bed, her necklace being the first thing to come off and stowed away safely.

"No," said Percy. "I don't."

She smiled while his back was still turned.

A minute later, the terracotta lamps were put out and the two lovers had joined each other beneath the covers. Reyna sighed contentedly. It was the simplest luxuries you tend to take most for granted.

"I thought you should know," said Percy, "that your sister's wife was kind of making a pass at me earlier."

Reyna looked at him, brow furrowed. "What? That's ridiculous. Why would she make a pass at _you_?"

"Ouch."

"You know what I meant."

"Hey, I've known people interested in both swords and sheaths."

"Did any of these people already have a sword or sheath of their own?"

"No, but it's beside the point. Kinzie _did_ make a pass at me, but it didn't mean anything. Right after, she told me she was just testing me, to make sure I was worthy of her 'new little sister'. Thought that might interest you. You came in search of one sister, and got two instead."

"Hmm. Funny how things work out."

He rolled over onto his side, resting his head in his palm while meeting her eyes. "So what do you want to do now?"

"We could get to that begging you promised me a little while ago," she said with a blush.

"I meant in general. We found Hylla. What's next? We still need to get married, preferably somewhere where the Republic won't arrest us."

"Arrest _you,_ you mean. _I _resigned."

"You're actually allowed to do that?"

"Being promoted to legatus comes with a handful of perks."

"Guess I'm alone in my deserter status, then. But back to my question."

She broke eye contact. "I've been thinking. It was something Prometheus said."

"Do you really want to trust him?"

"No. But I can't help agreeing with the advice he gave me. I think I want to stay here for a little while."

Percy didn't seem surprised. "I doubt you want to leave Hylla behind after spending so long looking for her."

"It's more than just that, but yeah. I want to take the time to reconnect with her, and get to know Kinzie, too. But I also want to train here. I think the Amazons could have a lot to teach me that I don't yet know."

"Ancient isolated civilization of women warriors? Probably a safe bet that they have some secret knowledge and techniques."

"What do you think?"

"I think you know what's best. We'll stay here for some time. I can be a trophy not-yet-husband for as long as you need, my lady who is superior to me."

Reyna smirked.

"Though we shouldn't stay forever. We owe it to Jason to look after his son when he's born."

"Or daughter."

He blinked. "Right, sorry. When I picture Jason having a kid, all I see is a miniature version of Jason."

"But you're right. We won't stay here forever. Only a little while."

"Works for me. Less general this time — what do you want to do now?"

She grabbed his chin and met her lips to his.


	45. Legacy

A boy, fourteen years old, walked with poise alongside his father through Rome on a chill winter night. His mother and sisters were at home, treating the slaves to an elegant feast. The streets were packed with merrymakers of all walks of life — poor, wealthy, servile, free. Music was playing incessantly, carrying over the city from several directions. It meant one thing and no other — Saturnalia.

"Gaius!"

The boy's ears twitched and eyes darted ahead. A man wearing a broad smile and elegant clothes was approaching them. He quickly realized that the man hadn't been calling to _him_, and immediately scolded himself for thinking otherwise.

"I was wondering when I'd see you," the stranger said to the boy's father.

"Septimus," he responded with a half-bow. "A pleasure. You know of my son?"

Septimus gave the boy a nod. "Smaller Gaius, of course. Glad to make your acquaintance. You're nearly a man already."

"Though not quite." The boy smiled courteously. "As some are wont to remind me."

Septimus turned his attention back to the elder Gaius. "I am quite glad to have run into you. There's a table back that way, though it was dreadfully dull. I wasn't going to go back, but things would liven up a lot more if you were there. So what say you, Gaius? Care to gamble?"

"I'd be remiss to refuse. What are these festivities without it?"

"Excellent! Right this way. Will your son be joining us?"

"He won't."

The younger Gaius stared at his father, surprised, though not disappointed. "I won't?"

The older Gaius gave a finger to Septimus to wait, then led his son away to speak in private. He looked down on him with a stern gaze, which was nothing unusual. "He's right. You're almost a man now."

"Thank you for noticing, Father."

"I trust you can partake in the holiday on your own. Behave yourself, and don't get into any trouble. You have a duty to Rome."

"Of course, Father."

"Good. Now on your way, then. I expect to see you back at home tonight."

"Of course, Father."

Once the two senators had gone off to throw some dice and lose their money, Gaius the junior began to wander. He was nearly a man now. It was about time he started acting like one and stopped being a son. He needed to make a name for himself. The boy envisioned a future where someone would hear his name and think of _him_, and not the father he'd inherited it from. Networking is a slow but useful process, so it'd be wise for him to start working on it soon. And what better time to make friends than during Saturnalia?

He kept his eyes open and his ears trained. Quietly, he observed the joyful passersby and studied them. Mostly he saw plebeians, but few patricians. None seemed worth his time at first glance. He could pick one at random, strike up a conversation, and hope they were worth his time. He didn't want to do that. If he'd wanted to roll dice, he'd have insisted on going with his father. No, what he sought was people he _knew_ could make beneficial allies.

Gaius soon spotted a boy — a boy he'd met before. He was a year younger than himself and the son of a praetor. A friendship with him would be quite advantageous.

Then Gaius spotted something else. At the edge of the street, away from any partygoers, was an almost imperceptible glimmer in the air. He blinked, and it was gone. The boy stared for a moment longer, then turned back to go speak to the praetor's son, but he'd disappeared while he was distracted. Gaius sighed, disappointed in himself. He'd just allowed a hallucination to hinder him.

It wasn't a hallucination — a part of him knew this. Another was wondering if he'd gone ill. All of him was too curious not to investigate. He'd see it again, and be able to better pay attention to exactly what it was, or he wouldn't, and he could put the whole thing behind him.

Walking toward where he'd seen the strange glimmer found him facing down an empty side street, in which he saw another one, brighter this time. The boy watched it without blinking, and it didn't disappear. He still didn't know what it was, so he approached cautiously. He was two steps away from being able to put his hand on it when it vanished. Already, the certainty of what his eyes had seen was fading, and he seriously considered if something was addling his mind.

He placed his hand on the ground, right below where the mirage had been hovering. There was nothing. Gaius looked around, on one knee, determined not to have let himself come down a random alley for nothing. Something had led him here, so there must be something to find.

The senator's son looked left, then looked right. The wall was damaged. A small pile of pebbles had formed at the base of it and some bricks were loose. He struggled to find a crack big enough to fit his fingers, but he eventually managed to pull free a piece of stone. Behind it should have been more foundation for the building, but there was a cubby instead. He reached his hand in and withdrew from it a book.

Gingerly he held a wooden tube in his hand, bearing little wear and covered in dust. He brushed it off with his sleeve, noting Greek lettering engraved upon it. It read simply, "Volume III". He popped off the end cap and let a scroll fall into his palm, made of the finest papyrus and completely undamaged. Anyone else would have assumed the book to have been written very recently, but not Gaius. A strange feeling deep inside him made him certain that he was holding something ancient. For a reason he couldn't explain, the prospect of unrolling it frightened him.

"Read it." A female voice, soft yet commanding, spoke from behind.

The boy whipped around to face the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her brown hair was braided back very intricately with exquisite bits of metal and jewels woven in, a few strands of hair allowed to dangle to either side of her face. Her eyes didn't stay the same color, mesmerizingly shifting from blue to green, to red, to brown, and never stopping. She wore a silk dress lined with golden thread, drawing attention to a plunging neckline.

Gaius gulped and pressed his back against the wall, the scroll and its wooden case still in his hands. "Who are you?"

The woman smiled with lips redder than a cherry. "I'm your grandmother. Well, once you throw in a few dozen or so 'great's, but who has the time for that?"

Gaius stared for many seconds, soon realizing that there was only one way her words could be interpreted. "You're a goddess," he said in awe. "Venus."

Her smile widened. "Smart boy."

"Did you lead me to this?" He held up the scroll. "What is it?"

"Read it," she repeated. "It contains your destiny."

The boy observed it more closely, setting down the wooden tube and running his finger along the fine edge of the scroll. He still didn't unroll it, thinking hard and glancing back at the goddess several times. An ancient book containing his destiny. . . His eyebrows shot upward, and a moment later, he returned the papyrus to its shell and thrust it at the goddess, who looked confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked, not moving her hands.

"I don't want it," said Gaius.

"Don't you understand what this is?"

"I do. I don't want it."

"This is one of the lost Sibylline Books. Believed to have been burned nearly half a millennia ago, you're one of the few to hold this since the surviving three were purchased by Tarquin the Proud. That is the most valuable thing you'll ever hold in your life, and you say you don't want it?"

"It's the most dangerous thing I'll ever hold in my life. I want nothing to do with it.

"It holds the key to your future — the future of the Republic. It's your destiny."

"I don't believe in destiny," Gaius snapped. "And I refuse to read my future in a book. I intend on writing my own."

"You don't understand what you're saying." Venus's tone was light and slow, making it evident to him that she was choosing her words very carefully.

"Yes I do. I —"

"_Listen to me!_" Her voice, no louder than before, washed over him unnaturally and made his words catch in his throat. He waited obediently for her to speak.

"Gaius," the goddess continued. "My legacy. I've waited long, longer than you can imagine, for you to be born. The _world _has waited. Your destiny is grand, and your impact will be everlasting. But you must know how to live up to it. Lupa will teach you, as she taught many heroes before, Romulus and Remus the most notable of them. You can do great things, or meet an ill fate due to lack of preparedness."

Gaius waited, but she spoke no further. So he talked as calmly as he could, though his face was cross, and was glad to find he had his voice back. "My lady. If someone needs to teach me how to achieve greatness, then I've not accomplished a thing — they have."

"Think about what you're saying, Gaius. Rome _needs_ you."

"And they'll have me, but on my own terms. I refuse to be controlled. _I_ will determine my fate, and I will fail or succeed on my own."

Venus stared at him intently, displeasure written all over her face, subtracting from her beauty. "Is that your will?"

"That is my will."

"I believe your decision to be rash and that you're making a mistake. I shall be waiting, should you change your mind."

Gaius put the Sibylline Book back where he'd found it and left, planning to live his life as if he'd never set eyes on it. He rejoined the celebrations, all thoughts of making friends gone. That could wait. His mind was pursuing bigger ideas at the moment.

* * *

That same night, Gaius returned to his room and lit a candle, then pulled from a drawer a book unlike any other. He'd invented it himself, having taken inspiration from the wax tablets some people chose to take notes on instead of scrolls. He'd bound the edge of a stack of evenly-cut papyrus sheets to a stiff board, then stuck a wooden cover on the top and bottom. This way, he was able to simply flip through the pages and always had a hard surface to write on. It was quite ingenious, if he did say so himself, and very convenient for recording his thoughts.

Gaius uncorked his ink vial and dipped his quill in, giving it a moment to soak before bringing it to the page. He thought carefully for a few seconds, then began to write.

_A goddess tried to manipulate me today. I refused to let her. I was afraid she might do something to me, but she let me go peacefully. I fear she'll try again, but for now I remain in control of my own life. I see this as a good sign, though. I'm doing something right if a goddess decides she wants to bend me to her will._

He paused. For a few minutes, the quill hovered above the papyrus while he deliberated. If he put to page what was currently in his mind, it'd cement his next course of action. It seemed such a simple thing, but to him, it was a big decision.

He dipped his quill again and wrote on a new line, starting right after a black dot that had dripped onto it while he was thinking.

_This encounter all but confirms what I already knew. I'm going to leave my mark on the world. I'm going to fix the things the Republic has been doing wrong. I only need to figure out how, and I believe I know where to start. My ancestor, her son, was a demigod. That's important. I have no doubt of this._

* * *

Gaius placed several more books back onto the shelves where he'd found them, growing frustrated. He was finding epics and legends, which told of demigod heroes that he'd had read to him as a child; the same could be said for many others. These didn't help him. He didn't need stories — he needed knowledge. He required solid information pertaining to demigods in the real world, anything at all that could be relevant to _him_. Although very diluted, he had godly blood in his veins. He wouldn't stop until he knew what exactly that meant for him.

He'd asked his father about it, but only found another dead end there. First, he'd been scolded for asking about a tale he'd already heard a thousand times. When Gaius clarified what he was after, his father had a slave deliver him a goblet of mulsum and then told him that their ancestry meant they were better than everyone else. He'd had nothing more to offer on the subject.

"Dear?" The wife of Septimus, the senator the boy's father had gambled with two days before and owned the private library he now perused, was watching him from the entryway. "Do you need any help?"

"I'm fine," Gaius said.

"You've been in here for hours. I think it'd be wise to take a break."

"Thank you," Gaius said politely, "but I don't need a break."

"If you're sure." She hesitated. "I've spent many an hour reading in here. I could potentially save you some time."

She caught his interest with that. "I didn't take you for a scholar," he told her.

The woman crossed her arms. "Maybe you should have."

"Apologies. I didn't mean to offend."

"What is it you're looking for?"

Gaius explained to her as best he could, though even he didn't rightly know what he sought.

"Hmm." The woman thought. "A curious request."

"Have you got anything like that? I spent all of yesterday searching my family's collection and found naught."

She walked along the shelves, looking over the books and humming thoughtfully. After a few minutes, she finally pulled one from the back wall. She placed a dusty scroll in his hands of medium length; it hadn't even been given a container to protect it. If Gaius were to guess, he'd say it hadn't been touched in a few years.

"_An Account of Reyna Arellano_, by Lucius Cato," she said. "Not the most well-written, but interesting nonetheless. My husband bought this off the man himself, a former primus pilus, when no one else would. There are many books about her life, but this one has a unique spin that most found bizarre."

"Reyna Arellano," said Gaius, familiarity clear in his tone. "She encountered demigods?"

"She _was_ one. Or so Cato would have you believe."

Gaius was taken aback. "I- I've never heard of this."

"It's not a particularly popular rumor. Read the book and form your own opinions."

"Thank you."

She left him in peace. Gaius sat down with the scroll. He blew the dust off it and then unfurled it, eagerly beginning to read. The boy's eyes shot over the entire document, taking in every word as quickly as he could. Once finished, he read it again.

His first thought was that the author seemed quite biased against Rome's only female military officer. This Lucius Cato clearly had an immense dislike for her, but at the same time a grudging respect. To Gaius, this confirmed one of two things — either Cato was insane, or his words held some credibility. Why else would he write a book about someone he hated, and make claims that many would call outlandish all the while?

Cato didn't focus all that much on Reyna Arellano's most notable achievements. Instead, he told of events in her early life that were either fabricated or forgotten, as Gaius had never heard of them before. Cato even went so far as to claim that Reyna had been promoted to legatus twice, having resigned once and then come back to reclaim the title two years later. And she, among two other demigod legionnaires, was responsible for the downfall of a small Greek rebellion, whose only achievements were temporarily taking hold of a castrum and culling half of their own forces after they'd surrendered to Rome. And as if Cato wanted to make his readers as doubtful as possible, he also claims that the rebellion army consisted entirely of demigods. And the part with the severed monster head was so ludicrous that Gaius didn't even think it worth mentioning.

The boy wasn't immediately ready to believe everything the book contained, but he wasn't ruling any of it out, either. Greece had been an empire so grand that predicting its downfall would have gotten you laughed at and ridiculed. Only an idiot would be surprised when conquering it resulted in insurgencies. So one as small as Cato recounted not being well recorded wasn't all that unbelievable. That its forces were entirely made up of demigods was another matter entirely, but not one that he was too focused on.

The thing that _really_ got his attention were these other two demigod legionnaires, whom Reyna was apparently close with. One, named Jason Grace, was supposed to be Jupiter's son. The other, a son of Neptune, was actually one of the Greek rebels who switched allegiances. Shortly after the three of them took down the rebellion's remaining forces by themselves, the two men deserted. Their last reported sighting was in Neapoli, and they were never heard from again.

Gaius wasn't sure how much of the book could be believed, but he had a gut feeling that Reyna Arellano actually _was_ a demigod, as were her two deserter friends. He wanted to meet at least one of them. They'd be no younger than seventy years old by now, so the chances of them being alive weren't great. But it was the best shot he had at learning something useful. Reyna had retired quietly a while ago, and her whereabouts since then are unknown. So he'd just have to start with the other two.

* * *

He'd be punished for leaving home while leaving behind nothing but a note, but not as severely as he would be had he stolen from the family treasury. So he only did the former, which made procuring passage along the Mare Nostrum a bit tricky. But with some careful observation and fancy wordplay, he was able to cleverly persuade a captain to let him stow away. So a couple of days later, he stepped off the gangplank and began wandering the streets of Neapoli, in which the effects of Saturnalia still lingered.

The demigod Perseus had stopped a treasonous assassination attempt on the consuls at the time. The region's legatus, named Gallio, had learned of this before his desertion and let him and Jason Grace borrow a vessel. That was the latest information Cato's book had on the two demigods. It wasn't much to go on at all. It made Gaius even more aware of how shortsighted his decision had been, but he'd follow the thread for as long as he could. He'd either find some information, or he'd return home empty-handed. He sorely hoped it wasn't the latter; he loathed failure.

Hours later, he'd found nothing at all. It had gotten dark and he had grown tired, but Gaius wasn't ready to give up yet. It was a very loose lead to follow with next to nothing to go off of, but the boy was determined to make sure his efforts were rewarded. He'd spoken with people, observed others, visited sacred locations, but gotten no information. He'd tried to get some noblemen to let him browse their libraries, but his name held no weight in this city. He should have realized coming here was hopeless before he'd ever stepped onto the boat, but he _knew_ it wasn't. He had this primal feeling inside himself that told him he was in the right place — there was something to find here.

He stopped in the middle of a street that had been bustling when he'd first started his search, but was now empty. His arm hairs stood on end and he found himself reaching toward his hip, though he wasn't sure why; the boy had never walked with a sword strapped there before. He inched ahead, keeping straight and passing by every point the road branched off. Then he heard something. He turned down a side street and ran as fast as he could, knowing there was danger ahead of him but not why he was going toward it. His mind was telling him to stop and flee, but his body was following instincts he'd never trained.

One more turn and he froze, facing two men — one tall, hairy, and brutish; the other slim, bald, and of average height. The brute swung a club at the shorter one, whose back faced Gaius, and they nimbly rolled away.

"Get back, boy!" Gaius was shocked to hear a woman's voice come from the hairless warrior, whose line of sight he'd not even entered into.

He followed her instructions, retreating, but at the same time trying to better examine the situation. The brute's face caught the moonlight enough for Gaius to see a singular eye centered above his nose. He roared, revealing several gaps between his teeth, then struck. The bald woman, who Gaius had mistaken for a man, expertly absorbed the blow with her shield, then thrust the tip of her sword beneath the cyclops's ribcage. It bellowed in agony and tried for another swing, but its grip had slackened. The woman bashed her shield into it and it left its hand. One more swipe of the sword and the monster fell, hitting the ground without a thud, its body reduced to golden dust.

The woman pivoted to face Gaius, not even looking tired. She stepped out of the shadows, sheathing her sword and putting her shield onto her back. Then, she untied a blindfold, revealing a pair of electric blue eyes that scanned over the boy.

"How?" was all Gaius could manage, staring at her in astonishment.

She didn't answer. Instead, she turned her pretty eyes to the night's sky, where a lone bird flew circling overhead. She waited, then looked back at Gaius. She said, "You're not a demigod."

"I'm descended from one," Gaius told her. "Are _you_ a demigod?"

"My parents were," she said darkly. She was actually quite beautiful, pulling off the shaved-head look really well. If Gaius had to guess, she was about forty, but he suspected that she looked younger than she truly was.

"How did you do that?" the boy asked. "With the blindfold on?"

A cold gust of air made him shiver as she tied the strip of fabric around her face again, then turned her back on him. "Pretend you never saw this, kid. You're mortal enough that monsters wouldn't care about you if you were a foot away from them. You don't want anything to do with our world."

"I'm already a part of it," Gaius articulated. "I need answers."

"You need nothing. You're some rich man's son — it's written all over your face. Go home and live a luxurious and peaceful life before you get caught up in things you don't belong in." She began to walk away.

"I'm looking for Perseus and Jason Grace!"

She froze.

"Do you know them?" he asked.

"Where did you hear those names?" she muttered.

"I read them in a book."

"What book?"

"About the early life of Reyna Arellano. It said she was a demigod too." She turned around, then walked back over to him. She removed her blindfold and tied it around her wrist. She stared at him, her gaze scrutinizing.

"What do you know about them?" Gaius asked her eagerly.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm a craftsman, whose only material is information. If you help me, I might just be able to build something great."

Her expression tightened. "You speak like a politician."

"I am my father's son."

"Hmph. Reyna died a few years ago. Her husband, Perseus, is hale. Jason Grace, my father, died before I was born."

Gaius stared, surprised by every single thing she said. "Reyna Arellano is dead? That's. . . that's awful news. She was an inspiration to many."

"She was," the bald warrior agreed. "Including me."

"I never knew she was married."

"The man she wed is a fugitive of the nation she serves. Did your little book miss that detail?"

Gaius set his jaw. "It didn't."

"Is that all the material you need?"

"No. If Perseus is hale as you say, I'd like to meet him."

She sighed. "And I'm sure he'll be interested in meeting you, too."

"Do you know where he is?"

"I'll take you to him."

Gaius blinked. "You will?"

The woman looked at the bird in the sky again. "He'd yell at me if I didn't."

"What —?"

"Ask your questions when we get on the road," she interrupted, then covered her eyes again. "Let's get moving." She started walking at a brisk pace, leaving Gaius no choice but to follow.

* * *

"What is that?" Cecilia, the bald daughter of the late Jason Grace, asked him.

Gaius looked up from his invention, quill still in his hand. "It's a book."

"I've never seen one like that."

"You still haven't."

She hadn't taken the blindfold off since they'd left Neapoli. Currently, she was resting with her back to a tree while Gaius was writing in his notebook, a fire burning timidly between them. Although he'd asked, she hadn't explained how she could seemingly see without her eyes.

"You an author?" she said.

"No," said Gaius. "I'm just putting my thoughts into ink."

"Yeah?" She paused. "And what's on your mind?"

"What's with the sudden interest?"

She didn't reply right away. "Forget I said anything."

Gaius watched her for a moment, then looked back down at the last words he'd written. Finally, he said, "I came to Neapoli from Rome, looking for clues to lead me to Jason Grace, Perseus, or Reyna Arellano. It didn't even take me a day to find you. I thought that an interesting coincidence."

"There are no coincidences," said Cecilia.

"What would you call it? Destiny?"

"Why the scorn in your voice?"

"I don't believe in destiny."

He noticed her fists clench.

"But you believe in the gods," she said. "And the Fates."

He contemplated. Gaius wrote something else down before responding. "So do _you_ think we were destined to meet?"

"Hard to say. I spend a lot of time in Neapoli — it's where I grew up. And I'm constantly searching for demigods and young heroes to guide to Chiron's camp for their protection. It's not all that unlikely for us to meet with you actively seeking someone like me out."

His quill hovered. After a few seconds, he met it back to the papyrus and continued writing in silence.

* * *

They pushed through a thicket of shrubbery into a spot of forest that was relatively clear. Gaius went to continue ahead, but was stopped by Cecilia's arm. "Careful," she said.

"What is it?" said Gaius. "Monsters?"

"No." She pointed.

Gaius followed her finger to a berry bush that he hadn't noticed was moving. Nibbling at the base of it was a dark creature about the size of a half-grown pig, white-tipped quills sticking out all over its back.

"It's just a porcupine," Gaius whispered.

"They've killed people before."

"They attack in self-defense. All we have to do is give it a wide berth and stay downwind of it."

"I know that!" Cecilia snapped. "I was just making sure you were aware of it. Just stick behind me, kid."

They walked past the animal at a distance, Gaius watching it the whole time. He stepped on a twig, which alerted the porcupine. It looked over at him, raising its quills up into a crest and not moving. Still watching it, Gaius slowly followed Cecilia's lead and the animal eventually relaxed, turning and running away.

A few minutes later, the forest thinned and they hit a wall. It was built from stone and surrounded with wooden spike barriers to fortify it. The boy didn't get a chance to wonder which way would lead to the entrance before Cecilia turned and started following the wall to the right.

They arrived at an open gate flanked by a spearman and swordswoman, both no more than a few years older than Gaius. They exchanged a wordless nod with Cecilia and allowed them to enter, eyeing Gaius curiously as he stepped through.

His first impression of the camp was that it was very far from Roman. It was pretty open, having a lot of distance between each of the log buildings, which Roman architects would call wasted space. Gaius saw a structure that could have been an armory but nothing that resembled a barracks. A large patch of dirt was off to one side of the camp around which a dozen cabins were built, a hearth burning at the center, though it was daytime. A vineyard was pressed up against the wall opposite the cabins, near which were large training grounds and even a track that could have been used for chariot racing. The inhabitants of this camp were all around his age, some a lot younger and few a lot older. Although every single one of them had at least a dagger at their side and carried themselves with the poise of a warrior, nothing about the place seemed all that military to him, which is what he'd been expecting when Cecilia had told him about a camp dedicated to teaching demigods to fight.

The bald woman casually held up her arm without missing a step. A few seconds later, the bird that Gaius had seen circling overhead the whole way here dived down and landed on her wrist. He was surprised to see that it wasn't a bird at all, but a metal machine designed to look like one. She did something with its neck, and the tiny automaton flew off to disappear into a shed.

They progressed through the grounds, going a little ways past the twelve cabins toward the largest building there — a two-tiered house whose architecture was unmistakably Greek, and it was the only one made mostly out of marble instead of wood. As they walked, Gaius was examining everything that passed into his field of vision. He was most interested in the training grounds, on which a horseman was training a group of kids, the oldest being no more than eleven. Upon looking more carefully, he realized that the rider had no legs, and his steed had no head — they were one being.

"That's Chiron?" he said.

Cecilia gave a grunt of affirmation, not even looking at the centaur. Half a minute later, she stopped a short distance from the big house. "Perseus should be in there."

"Will you not be joining us?"

"No."

She walked away with nothing more to say, a good testament to their journey together. Gaius stood there for only a moment, watching after her. He was about to go up to the building when he saw her stop and hug one of the kids, an uncharacteristic smile on her face, and her cold demeanor suddenly absent. The boy stared, puzzled, then pushed the woman from his mind. He marched up the steps and knocked on the door, trying not to feel affronted.

The door opened, revealing an elderly man with dark grey hair and sea-green eyes. His back was hunched, but he had a sword strapped to his side and still looked to be in pretty good shape for his age. Gaius could feel a faint aura of power radiating off of him.

"You're Perseus," the boy said. It wasn't a question.

"I am," said the old man. "And you're not a demigod."

"What makes you so certain?"

"Decades of experience."

"Well, your experience proves right. I'm not a demigod — my ancestor was."

"Hmm? You're what we call a legacy, then. Would I have heard of your ancestor?"

"Most likely."

Perseus raised an eyebrow and waited, then smiled slightly. "Come inside. Let's play a game. And you can call me Percy."

They entered into a sitting room and sat across from each other at a table. Percy waved a hand and a stream of water unnaturally flew in through a window, filling the two goblets he'd placed down. Gaius was impressed, but made no comment. The old man took a drink, then pulled a board and some pieces from underneath the table and then set them down.

"You familiar with Petteia?" he asked.

"I've read about it, though I've never played," Gaius said.

"It's simple enough. My wife used to be quite fond of it, and I've been playing it a lot more in recent years."

"Reyna Arellano."

Percy nodded somberly while setting up the game.

"I was saddened to learn of her death, just a few days ago. She held a lot of respect among the people. . . Might I ask what happened?"

"You may, but let's start playing first. Should I explain the rules?"

"I could be reminded."

He did, and a few minutes later, made the first move. Gaius thought carefully, trying to come up with a strategy, then played his turn.

"She lived a full life and died peacefully," said Percy, "which is the most I could have hoped for her, the life she lived. My only regret is that we had so little time together until her retirement, with me here training heroes with Chiron and her off living a life of war and politics. We had many good years together, though.

"Half a decade past, a friend of ours caught an illness. Reyna went to her home to take care of her and help her recover, but unfortunately, she fell ill as well. Not long after, they both succumbed to it."

"I'm sorry."

"I am too. She was a fierce and compassionate woman, and always came back from every battle she fought — except for the one you can't win with a sword."

"I read a book recently, about her. Lucius Cato —"

"Ah, Cato. That old coot. Reyna always hated him, though they often had to work closely together."

"He wrote the book, and made a lot of claims."

"They're all true."

Gaius stared at him.

"It's your move."

The boy made his play. "You've read it?"

"No, I haven't. But I knew he was writing it. And he got all the info right from the source — her. I think that should prove its accuracy."

"Even with the dragon head?"

"It wasn't a dragon — it was a sea monster."

Gaius tried to hide his surprise. "So. . . this demigod rebellion. Could you tell me about it?"

"Figures you wouldn't know that much. With all that happened afterward, it doesn't feel all that impactful in the grand scheme of things. It took all my childhood friends from me and turned me into a killer, making me break an oath. But what's some Greek rebels' lives and only a handful of Roman casualties to a nation as vast as the Republic?"

"Cato's view was that those events led to change that lessened the rift between Rome and former Greece. And I think I just won."

Percy gave a nod of approval, then began resetting the board. "Luck. I had that same view, too. I wanted to believe that betraying my friends and joining the legion brought about something good, but hindsight speaks otherwise. The rebellion was no more than a blip in history that only leaves an impact on those involved. Rome knew the mistakes it made and used the rebellion as an excuse to correct them. They handed over policies and rights they'd already planned to give freely, using them as leverage for the rebellion to stand down. When it didn't pan out, Reyna, Jason, and I had to go in and clean up the mess. Then Rome went through with their promises anyway."

They finished the game quietly, Gaius claiming a second win. Percy looked annoyed while he laid out the pieces again.

"You sure you've never played?" he said.

"Completely."

A few turns passed in silence before Percy spoke. "Why are you here?"

"I met Cecilia in Neapoli and —"

"I didn't ask how you got here. I asked why you came here."

"I. . . wanted to meet you, or Reyna, or Jason."

"Why?"

Gaius paused to think, still not sure of the answer himself. "My ancestor is Aeneas, who played a large role leading up to the founding of Rome. I thought if I met other demigods that had a large influence, like Reyna, I might be able to understand how my ancestry can help me achieve my ends."

"And what are your ends?"

"To serve Rome, and her people; to enact change; to fix recent mistakes that could lead to our downfall; to build the Republic back up so Rome can reign eternal."

"Large goals. How do you plan to achieve them?"

"Through politics — it's the only way."

"Not war?"

"War is the biggest blight in recent history. It achieves temporary victories, makes enemies, and leaves behind a trail of blood and tears. But with enough influence and the support of Rome's citizens, everlasting change can be made for the betterment of all. And no one would have to die."

"You have noble intentions, but war is inescapable. If you acquire power, every decision you make will receive pushback from those happy with how things are. Radical enough ideas will cause people to declare war on you, even if they also cause others to praise you."

"If they force my hand, then I'll fight — and we'll win, like this."

Percy stared at the pieces for a while, so the boy reset the board himself. Finally, the old man spoke again. "You said Cecilia brought you here? She doesn't like you, does she?"

Gaius frowned. "I got that impression. How did you know that?"

"You remind me a lot of one of my old pupils, who she was quite close with. He, too, was smart, gifted, and ambitious. He even had the same intelligent black eyes you do."

"What's the story there?"

"It's a tragedy, but not mine to tell. You'll need to ask her."

Gaius examined the board. Percy had trapped him in a rather tricky situation. After a moment, the boy decided to take a risk, then said, "What's with the blindfold?"

"Hmm. She's usually quick to boast about it, but I suppose you're the exception. You see, her father, Jason, was a son of Jupiter. He was quite powerful, having a good arsenal of powers at his disposal. The only one she inherited from him was a connection to the winds, which she sees as a connection to him. So she relies on it as much as possible, listening to the sky's breath and feeling it on her skin, which is also why she shaves her head. And this way, she sees without her eyes, having spent many years attuning to the winds to understand them."

"That's incredible."

"Indeed. Wait, how did you do that?"

Gaius grinned, having cleverly escaped the old man's trap and won another game. "Luck."

Percy's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to ask again — why are you here?"

"I thought I told you."

"You gave me a partial answer. But I want to know what you're hoping to gain from being here. Do you want to learn? To train?"

Gaius remembered the words he'd said to Venus, but did not repeat them. "I want to learn."

"Then I'll take you on as my student. I'll train you. You have big goals, not so easily achieved. But if you want a chance at seeing them become reality, you'll also need to know how to fight. Climbing the ranks of a legion is the fastest way to high repute." He paused. "I realize you haven't told me your name yet."

"Gaius."

"Pretty common. Just the one?"

"Gaius Julius Caesar."


	46. Love in the Wind

A woman of eighteen years awoke from an uncomfortable and too short rest. She sat up and rested her arm on her knee, mentally preparing herself for the day. The sound of crickets she'd fallen asleep to had been replaced by the chirping of birds. The early morning breeze was just as chilly as the night's had been, though she didn't mind. The woman, named Cecilia, ran a hand across her head, feeling not locks of hair, but stubble. She took a deep breath and got to her feet, unable to see the woods that surrounded her — or anything at all, for that matter.

Half an hour passed and she'd bathed as best she could in the stream nearby. As she walked back to her meager campsite, she tripped on a rock and almost fell over. She cursed herself in a whisper, took a deep breath, then finally removed the strip of cloth that had been tied around her face. The woman blinked several times, the world slowly coming into focus, and glared at the stone that had bested her. She opened her bag and traded the blindfold for two items before returning to the running water.

Cecilia, kneeling next to the currents, slid the lid off a ceramic jar and dipped her fingers into it. She lathered her scalp with a cream devised of fats and oils she'd mixed herself, having initially obtained the recipe from an old friend of her uncle's. Once the woman was sure she'd applied an even coat, she expertly took a razor to her skin. Soon enough, she was rinsing the lingering cream off, and her head was as smooth as ever.

To finish off her morning routine, Cecilia returned to her makeshift camp once more. She was far enough away from the stream that she could no longer hear the running water, so she sat and crossed her legs, tying the fabric back around her eyes. The light winds grazed every bit of her exposed skin. The woman took steady, practiced breaths, clearing her mind and focusing on the air currents. She heard them, blocking out all other noise. She felt them, both on her body and in her lungs. They spoke to her, and she could sense the blurry shapes of everything surrounding her. She spoke back, saying, "_You and I are one_," in her mind.

The winds didn't seem to agree with her. The opposite of what she'd been trying for came true — the things she could "see" started to lose their shape, become less vivid. She could no longer point out that rock that had tripped her a moment ago and would fail in an attempt to count the trees in the vicinity. Where others might have immediately grown frustrated, the woman remained calm. She concentrated on her breathing, keeping it steady and her heart beating no faster than before. Her determination brought her surroundings back into focus, but not permanently.

Some minutes passed, and her artificial sight continued to fluctuate in clarity. Eventually, she began to transition her meditation into a prayer. She first thanked her grandfather, Jupiter, once again for having blessed her with her sole ability. Then she asked him for help with her attunement, before asking the same of Aeolus. And finally, she prayed to the four Anemoi — Aquilon, Auster, Vulturnus, and Favonius. She received no responses.

When Cecilia got to her feet and removed her blindfold, she could see the sun a decent distance from where it had been before. "At least _something_ made some progress," she muttered while tying the fabric to her wrist.

The woman collected her things, strapping her sword to her belt and her shield to her left forearm. Then she set off, dreaming of the day she could find her way back to the road without having to rely on her eyes or memory.

* * *

A couple hours later, Cecilia's stomach was protesting as she walked into a modest village at a leisurely pace. Houses were small with thatch roofs, wood walls, and stone foundations. The roads were nothing more than packed dirt, but wide enough that three chariots could ride on it side-by-side. Up ahead, she could see a decently sized building with a lot of activity, which immediately became her destination. Even farther beyond that, towering into the sky, was tomorrow's destination — the legendary Mount Olympus itself.

As per her hopes, the structure turned out to be a tavern, which her growling stomach was grateful for. She entered into the pub, her bald head drawing some strange glances that she ignored, and headed straight for the barkeeper. She ordered a small meal, showed the man the coin, and took a seat while she waited.

"Not wearing that rag around your face anymore, then?"

Cecilia started, finding a man she recognized sitting two stools to her right. Black-eyed, darker-skinned, and of a thin build was a boy one year her junior, whom she hadn't seen in over a year. He was a legacy, like her. The two had never properly spoken to one another before, but Chiron's camp was a small one, so all of its trainees knew one another at least somewhat.

"Dayi," said the woman. "What a surprise."

"Cecilia, wasn't it?" said Dayi.

"Don't act like you don't remember."

He raised an eyebrow. "Of course. Who'd forget the legend's daughter? And Perseus's favorite student?"

Her eyes narrowed. "He _is_ my uncle."

He shrugged.

Cecilia got down from her stool and sat on one closer to him. "What are you doing here, of all places?"

"I could ask the same of you, but I won't. I assume this backwater settlement is just on the way to something a little higher up."

"That's a fast assumption to make."

"Not exactly a difficult one, though, is it? Don't think you were the only one Perseus recounted his adventures to. I know what awaits you up there."

The bartender took his payment and served him a goblet, which he promptly took a sip from.

Cecilia stared at him. "So, are we here for the same reason, then?"

"No. I'm heading east in a couple of days."

"What for?"

Dayi shrugged again. "To find another place I can say I've been."

"That all?"

He nodded.

"So. . . you're a nomad."

He tilted his head. "I suppose I am — for now."

As soon as Cecilia got her food, she didn't wait to start wolfing it down, but the barman requested that she find a table if she wasn't going to drink. So she stood and picked up her plate, but Dayi didn't move.

"Care to join me?" she asked him. "It's been a while since I've seen a friendly face."

After a moment's consideration, he nodded.

They sat across from each other at an empty table and she could feel his eyes studying her while she ate. She'd have felt self-conscious, but knew he was more likely trying to see inside her mind than figure out whether she'd sleep with him. She was also too absorbed in her meal to pay him any attention.

"You been traveling long?" he said.

Cecilia swallowed her bite so she could answer. "About a month, now."

"Were you heading north the entire time, or did you have more destinations in mind when you set off?"

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I. . . made an effort to stop in Neapoli, but didn't stay long enough."

"Long enough?" He took a sip. "To. . . see someone?"

She eyed him suspiciously. "For someone who pretended to be unsure of my name, you know an awful lot about me."

"People at camp talk, and I have a good memory."

"So you'd be able to tell me where, say. . . Stella's mother lives, too?"

"I could venture a guess, but Stella isn't Jason Grace's daughter."

She continued eating. After a few minutes, her plate had emptied and she leaned back in her chair, tossing onto the table her used handkerchief. The woman stared at Dayi, who'd finished his drink and had it refilled. He seemed to be waiting for her to speak, so she obliged. "You really just passing through here, seeing the sights?"

"I am."

"Why?"

He cocked his eyebrow. "Do I need a reason?"

"I'm just curious as to how I ran into you all the way up here. You're from the south, aren't you?"

"My mother was Egyptian, and I was born in Alexandria. But I'm still part Greek, or am I only allowed to explore the part of my heritage that shows itself on my skin?"

Cecilia blanched. "W-what? No! Of course not. I —"

Dayi smirked. "Relax. If you must know, you're out of luck. _I_ don't know why I'm here, or what I'm doing."

She stared at him, confusion written plainly on her face.

He sighed. "I'm young and don't know what I'll do with my life."

"Really?"

"Is that surprising?"

"Well, yeah. You're just — you're smart!"

His cheeks reddened slightly. "Well, yes. But that doesn't count for much. Have _you_ got it all figured out yet?"

She bit her lip. "Somewhat."

"See? It's not so easy. Just because you'll more often see me reading a book than wielding a sword doesn't mean I've got my entire life planned."

"So that's what you're doing, then? Traveling the world while you try and figure things out?"

He shrugged. "Pretty much. And some things you can't learn from books. I find it's good to have experiences under my belt and to have an array of sights in my memory."

"Well. . . what better sight could you find than Mount Olympus?"

He stared at her. "Was that an invitation?"

"Perhaps. The road _can_ get lonely."

He contemplated for a minute, then smiled. "I hope I can make for good company."

* * *

"Here," said Cecilia.

"Hmm?" Dayi looked startled as he stared at the roasted rabbit meat she was holding in front of his face. He quickly rolled up the scroll he'd been writing in and set it aside, taking the food. "Right, thanks."

"What were you writing?" she asked after sitting and swallowing a healthy bite of her own share of the game.

He took a moment to reply. "Nothing important. Just some thoughts and observations, that may or may not be worth remembering down the line."

"What happened to having a good memory?"

"This _is_ how I have a good memory. Putting things to page helps it stick with me better. And should anything ever slip my mind, I'm able to get it back just by reading my notes. Then I'm less likely to forget again. That's the trick to it."

They ate in silence. It was the first night of their traveling together, a fire burning in the center of the camp they'd set up. Clouds were sparse overhead, and crickets were chirping all over the woods they rested in. Cecilia thought it to be rather serene.

"So you were in Neapoli," Dayi eventually said, "but didn't visit your mother."

She stared at him, wary, and hesitantly nodded.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Not since I left home," she answered after a moment of deliberation. "Six years now, I think."

"May I ask why?"

She'd reached the bone of her leg. The woman stared at it for a moment before tossing it aside. "I don't want to get into it right now."

Cecilia thought that was the end of the subject, so she tore a strip of meat from what was left and began chewing it. Dayi was working on his leg slowly, looking thoughtful. When he finally finished it, he spoke again, twiddling the bone between his fingers.

"I was ten, when my mother was murdered."

She watched him in stunned silence.

"My father," the man continued. "He. . . didn't take it well. He lasted three days, progressively getting more and more delirious. Then he had a fit, and our house burnt down. I still remember the sight of his fists clenched, alight with flames greener than grass."

"Green flames?" she said.

"It was magic. The last time I saw him was outside my burning home. He told me about Chiron and to go find him. Then he left. It was only a while after I left camp that I returned to Alexandria and learned he'd tracked down the man who'd murdered her. My father had killed him. . . then himself."

"I'm sorry," she said.

Dayi used a stick to turn over a log in the fire, staring mournfully into the flames.

"Why did you tell me that?" Cecilia asked him.

"Sometimes. . ." He paused. "It can help put things into perspective when you say your troubles out loud."

She stared at him for a while, then turned her gaze to the fire. "My story seems rather bitter in comparison to that."

"I'd still like to hear it."

She took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. "My mother raised me on a lie. She waited twelve years to tell me that the man who raised me wasn't my father — that my real father was dead. And she had my aunt, uncle, and grandfather keep it secret, too."

He kept quiet.

"My whole life, she lied to me. I always knew she was hiding something. I could _tell_ that there was a part of her missing, and she was just acting whole whenever she was around me. But to keep something that important from me? I just. . . I was so angry. So I ran. I told her I hated her, then ran. And then I found my way to camp, where Percy acted as a better parent to me than she ever did."

There was a short, tense silence that dragged on until Dayi seemed sure she'd finished speaking.

"I realize that must have been hard for you to deal with, but I imagine it was difficult for her as well."

She stared at him in disbelief. "You're taking _her_ side?"

He bit his lip. "No. I'm just trying to see things from both perspectives. The fact that you went to Neapoli at all says to me that you _want_ to make amends. I can't pretend I know what it's like to have been in love with someone, or to have lost that person. But I don't think it out of the question that she might have simply wanted to protect you from that pain until you were ready."

"I was twelve," she spat. "And she didn't even _want_ to tell me then. She only did it because I discovered my powers. My father killed a hydra when he was younger than I was."

"That was by luck, though, wasn't it?"

"What's your point?"

He threw his bone into the fire, then looked guilty. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to defend her. You had every right to know. But if your intention is to punish her, I think six years is long enough. If you ever intend to have her back in your life, then you'll need to face her."

She adjusted her sitting position so that her back was facing him. "Go to sleep, Dayi. I'm taking first watch."

She closed her eyes and concentrated on the winds. She might have misinterpreted them, but she could see his hesitance before he heeded her wish.

* * *

Two days since they met at that tavern, night was falling. The pair of legacies were walking together on a barren road. The mountain was close now, and they'd reach it by the end of the next day. They might have already made it there, Dayi had pointed out, had Cecilia walked at a faster pace. But she saw no need to rush, as Olympus wasn't going anywhere. She was also more afraid of tripping the faster she walked, although she'd not said that part aloud. She insisted on keeping on the blindfold, but unfortunately, her ability to see with the winds was still less than perfect.

"Careful!" Dayi said, quickly catching her as she stumbled over a large crack in the ground.

Cecilia sighed and muttered an inaudible, "Thanks."

"How long have you been working at that?"

She removed the fabric and stared at the ground. "Five — no, six years now. Since I first arrived at camp, just about."

"I'd have thought that'd be enough time to master it."

She glared at him. "Yeah? Well so did I, once."

He backed away from her.

The woman sighed. "I'm great at so many things I've applied myself to, but never gave those things half the effort I've put into this. And I feel just as inadequate as the day I started."

"I don't believe you've not improved at all."

"Of course I have. Just so slowly that it doesn't at all feel that way."

He glanced at the sky. "Let's stop for the night."

"Whatever."

Dayi made the fire while Cecilia sat down to meditate. It was the tradeoff for her taking the first watch again. She listened to the crackling fire and felt the air on her skin, and hours passed rapidly. She woke him for his turn and then laid down, soon falling asleep. It hardly felt like any time at all had passed before she woke up, but it was now the crack of dawn. She tried to doze off again, but found she couldn't.

Feeling groggy, she got up. The fire was still burning; it looked to have had some fresh kindling added it to recently. But then she realized she was alone at the campsite. She stood and looked around, but Dayi was nowhere to be seen. He'd likely just snuck off to relieve himself, but she wanted to make sure he hadn't up and abandoned her in the middle of the night. So she meditated, listened to the breeze, and it carried to her a tune.

Her curiosity piqued, she silently followed the direction the noise had come from. A song was growing louder — a joyful melody, sung with a beautiful voice. The closer she got, the more sure she was that it was Dayi's. Then she was close enough to see him and make out the lyrics. Despite the tune, the words were quite somber; they told of a man's attempts to escape from slavery, and how he failed to find happiness after he was finally free. It kept coming back to a rain-soaked hill — that was probably symbolism, but she never cared enough about music to figure out the metaphors.

Cecilia listened only as long as she dared, entranced. Then she turned and snuck away, afraid he'd notice her.

* * *

"Are you sure there's a cave?" said Dayi at last. They currently stood at the base of Mount Olympus, unsure of how to reach their goal — the city of the gods. They'd searched for the better part of an hour now, but found nothing.

"Chiron said there was," Cecilia insisted. "We go through it and come out on Olympus."

"That might be a little hard to do if we don't know where it is," he said, his tone irritated.

"We'll just have to keep looking. We've barely scratched the surface. We'll find it eventually."

"Cecilia." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I do not have the patience to search an entire mountain. It could take days."

She rolled her eyes while turned away from him. "Where exactly are you in a hurry to be?"

"Nowhere. But my time is valuable. Is it wrong to not want it wasted?"

She thought for a moment, then started walking while saying, "If we find it, I don't see how it's a waste of time. I mean, this was bound to take a while. It's a mountain, not some measly rain-soaked hill."

The effect was immediate. Dayi caught her arm with a firm grip and pulled her around to face him, a mischievous smile on her lips. His mouth had been reduced to a thin line, and his eyes were alight with either anger or fear — or both; she wasn't entirely sure.

"You. . ." For once, he was at a loss for words.

"I never took you for a singer," she said.

He released her arm and took a couple steps back, refusing to meet her eyes. Cecilia began to feel guilty, not having expected him to react this abashed.

"You have a great voice," she told him.

"Shut up," he said.

Her brow furrowed. "I meant it."

"Of course you did. I know I'm a good singer. That's irrelevant."

"Would you care to explain it to me?"

"You obviously wouldn't understand."

"Well, I can't read minds." She was beginning to grow annoyed, and her confusion had reached its peak.

"Find the cave on your own. I'm done here." He turned and began to walk away.

"What? Dayi!" she shouted after him, but he showed no reaction. So she stood and watched him leave. She didn't try to stop him, bewildered and utterly certain that she'd done nothing wrong.

* * *

It only took her two more hours to find the cave, which was evidently too high a price to pay to see the grandest city in the world, according to Dayi. There hadn't even been any challenges or defenses inside of it; it was just a straight staircase that took half an hour to climb. Dayi likely would have grumbled about how slowly she went up the steps the entire time.

"Ahem," said a man's voice.

Cecilia started and looked around, not sure where it'd come from. The stairs had ended at a wall, which she was now trying to figure out how to get past. Other than an old bust on a weathered pillar, she was alone.

"Hello?" she said uncertainly, her hand on the hilt of her weapon.

"Greetings," said the bust, its face moving and chest heaving as if it were alive.

She quickly backed up, her foot sliding down one step of the stairs and almost costing her her balance.

"I am Terminus, god of boundaries," it said.

"Cecilia," she introduced, still wary, "legacy of Jupiter."

"Ooh," Terminus said in a disapproving tone. "No, that won't do. That won't do at all."

"What won't do?"

"Legacies on Olympus? Certainly not. Only demigods, and even then only on special occasions."

"Since when?"

"Since that whole unity debacle. Hard enough dealing with two minds inside your head _without_ distractions being able to come and go as you please. I'm afraid you must turn back."

"No."

Terminus cocked his head. "No?" he said in a way that suggested he wasn't used to hearing that.

"No. I came too far to be turned away now. Tell me how to get through this wall."

"There _is_ no getting through this wall. Olympus isn't here."

"What are you talking about?"

"Olympus floats above the cultural center of the world — at this time, over the Mare Nostrum."

"It was here when my father and uncle came here."

"Father and uncle?" He made a weird movement that could almost have been interpreted as a shrug, but he had no arms or shoulders. "Whatever. It moved, of course."

She stared at him. "Why would you be here if Olympus isn't?"

He looked surprised, then scolded himself. "Well, you got me there. This wall here is a portal, that only _I_ can open."

"It goes to Olympus?"

"Of course. But it matters not to you. You shan't be allowed through."

"Please," Cecilia begged. "You have to. I just want to see the statue of my father."

"Your father? Hmm." His face lit up. "Oh! You're Jason Grace's child."

She nodded.

"I suppose that's different then. Hmm. Well. . . I'll make an exception, but so long as you swear on the River Styx to go only to the statue and back."

"Thank you." She bowed her head toward him. "I swear on the Styx that I'm only visiting my father's shrine."

A very muffled clap of thunder sounded from above.

"That'll do. Now just a second." His entire body hopped and spun midair so that he landed facing the wall. Terminus stared intently at it for a moment, then the wall fell backward, revealing a paved street. It led past the backs of several buildings before ending at a golden statue. Cecilia's gaze shot immediately toward the ground and she froze, not having expected the portal to take her straight to it. She thought she'd have a chance to mentally prepare herself.

"Well?" said Terminus. "Are you going through or not?"

The woman took a deep breath and stepped through. It looked to her as if she were at the edge of the city, as she could see nothing but the backs of spectacular structures and the statue. She slowly approached it, still not yet looking directly at it. She dropped to her knees at the plinth and read the plaque.

_Every time you wake up, you're a slightly different person than you were the day before. If you stop worrying about the you from eight years ago, the you of tomorrow won't hurt as much. And neither will the people who care about you._

She laid eyes on her father's image for the first time in her life, tears staining her face for the man she'd never met.

* * *

A week passed and Cecilia arrived in Lamia by walking face-first into a building. Angrily, she removed the blindfold and blinked her sight back into focus. The woman ignored the confused citizen that had witnessed her blunder and followed the street as if nothing had happened. Anxious to finally get to sleep in a warm bed again, she looked around until she spotted the nearest inn.

Upon entering the establishment, it took her five seconds before she laughed out loud. This turned several heads, including one with a widened pair of black eyes. She strode the length of the room and sat down across from none other than Dayi, who seemed to be questioning whether he was dreaming.

The man took too long to regain his composure, greeting her in a voice dripping with disbelief. "Cecilia."

"It's a strange destiny that we run into each other again," she said.

"You call this destiny?"

"What else would it be? At a completely different place, barely a week later, I find you."

"I don't believe in destiny. Divine meddling, more like. Or you followed me."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't really have the chance to follow you if I'd wanted to. By the time I left Olympus, you could have gone anywhere."

"Divine meddling it is, then."

"Yeah? Which god do you think we owe this second encounter to?"

He didn't answer, but she could see it on his face that he had one in mind.

"Isn't destiny just another name for 'divine meddling' anyway?" she said.

"That was _mine_, Cecilia!" Dayi abruptly hissed, his fingers clamped down on the edge of the table.

She was taken aback. "What?"

"Singing." His face was contorted with fury. "That was mine, and no one else's. And especially not yours. You had no right."

"So I heard you sing," she said, baffled. "What's the big deal?"

"You intruded on something personal. I went out of my way for privacy."

"But why? You're so talented! People should hear —"

"I'm not some minstrel. Are you even trying to understand, Cecilia?"

"You're not exactly making it very clear," she said through gritted teeth.

He relinquished the table and steadied his breathing, a forced calm taking his face. "Have you never had something that was yours and yours alone? Something important enough to you that you exercise your right to be selfish about it and share it with no one else?"

She took a minute to think about it. "Yes, but I wouldn't keep it to myself forever. Sooner or later I'd expect to find someone important enough that there's nothing I wouldn't share with them."

He stared at her. "You believe in that sort of thing?"

"You know who my grandmother is."

"Be that as it may, that'd be your _choice_ to share. You never gave me a chance before overstepping your —"

"It was an accident, Dayi! And it's not like I stole it from you. You can still sing whenever you want to —"

"_Keep your voice down!_" he hissed, even though there was no one near enough to have heard her.

"— but _my_ thing," the woman continued, leaning forward so that her elbows were on the table, "is one time only. Once taken, it's gone. The same cannot be said for yours."

The man's eyes showed understanding, but he wasn't flustered. Instead, his gaze hardened. "You're nothing beyond your blood, Cecilia. You're egotistical and self-absorbed. I have every right to be upset right now, but all you've done is act defensive and not even make an attempt to see my side of things or apologize."

He stood and took two steps away before Cecilia spoke up.

"Wait," she said, not able to hide the hurt in her voice.

He paused, but didn't turn to look at her.

"Short as it lasted, I enjoyed your company," she told him.

Dayi disappeared down a hallway while Cecilia leaned back in her chair, feeling defeated.

* * *

The following day, Cecilia was meditating in an inn room by the open window. Her eyes were covered and her mind was empty. The door opened, and she didn't react when she heard a sword being drawn. The room's tenant let it fall back into its sheath after only getting it halfway out, having realized who the intruder was.

"You," he said, "are the most obstinate, annoying —"

"Dayi," she cut him off. "I think you might be interested in what I have to say."

He waited silently. Cecilia stood and faced him, but didn't remove the blindfold; it would be easier if she didn't have to look him in the eyes or read his expression.

"You were right," she admitted.

Dayi made no reaction — at least, none that she could sense.

"I argued with you and tried to play innocent when all I should have done is apologize. For that and intruding on something personal, I'm sorry."

"That must have been difficult for you," he said stiffly after a long silence.

Cecilia sighed. "Really, Dayi?"

"Alright," he said. "I accept your apology. And I suppose I also forgive you for breaking into my room."

"The door was unlocked," she said innocently.

The winds helped her see him take a step closer to her. His posture seemed apprehensive. "I may have overreacted somewhat, and my words were needlessly harsh. I'll admit that now. And I also can't say that our time shared on the road was unpleasant."

"That's about as close to a compliment as you can get, isn't it?"

"No." He hesitated, while she took a step closer to him. "I suppose. . . you have pretty eyes."

Her cheeks warmed, but she didn't uncover the aforementioned eyes. "You can see them in that good memory of yours?"

Her heart was beginning to beat faster, and her wind sight was waning. Unfortunately, she heard Dayi back away from her.

"What are you trying to do here, Cecilia?" he asked, suddenly guarded.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Do you think that just because we met by happenstance in two different places that _this_ was destined?"

"I came to Lamia for its harbor. The only reason I'm still here instead of on a boat is because I made a choice — not because my grandmother wishes it."

"I _don't_ like to be controlled," he said stubbornly.

"Then choose for yourself. If you walk away as an act of defiance against Venus, you're still letting yourself be manipulated by her."

Dayi didn't move or speak for a while, leaving a tense silence. Then he approached her. The woman didn't need her wind connection to sense his hands reaching toward her head. She didn't resist, and then the blindfold was off. She saw an unprecedented look of vulnerability on his face. She'd realized a long time ago that he was quite handsome, but didn't truly appreciate it until just then.

"How am I supposed to know if this is real?" he asked with a tone of uncertainty.

She answered by kissing him. He kissed back right away and put his hands on her shoulders. But Cecilia couldn't be sure whether he was going to push her away or pull her in closer, so she locked her arms around his neck. The woman didn't really know what she was doing, but hoped she was doing alright. She'd kissed boys before when she was younger, but never gotten far with any of them. This was unlike those times. This, Cecilia knew, was something special.

"Did that feel real?" she asked when their lips parted, a smile on her burning face.

He still looked doubtful, but was blushing too. Dayi took a step back and their arms fell to their sides. "I don't know how to tell if what I feel for you was forced on me by —"

"Forget Venus!" Cecilia snapped. She took a step forward and grabbed both his hands, then stared into his eyes. "Forget her. She's not a part of this. Just tell me, right now — do you love me?"

He gulped. Then he whispered, gaze unwavering, "I do."

"And I love you."

The man smiled, then _he_ kissed _her_. It was better this time. The tension was gone, and both their inhibitions had been dropped. He grabbed her by the hips and pressed her body up against his. Her hands slowly traveled down his sides until they found their way to his belt, where she began fiddling with the straps to his sword's sheath. Immediately, Dayi pulled away and gripped her wrist.

"What are you doing?" he said, a tinge of panic to his voice.

"You won't be needing it," she said.

"Cecilia," he said slowly, releasing her arm. "This is. . . sudden. Are you certain?"

"It's only fair. I got to enjoy your thing, and now you get mine."

"But once taken —"

"— it's gone," she finished for him, then tossed his sword aside. "I want it to be you."

He was hesitant to respond. "I. . . I don't know."

"How many other women have you been with?"

"None like you."

"Meaning they had hair?"

"And lacked your tenacity. Your beauty, and your elegance."

"Now you're just flattering me. I don't think I'm that elegant."

"But you _are_ beautiful."

"Yet you still don't know?"

He bit his lip. "I know I want to. I don't know that I deserve it."

"If you want it, and I want it, then shut up and let's do it."

The two woke up the next morning, sharing Dayi's rented bed, lacking both clothes and regrets.

* * *

A week later, they still hadn't left Lamia. Cecilia's plan had been to return to camp via ship and Dayi's had been to move on to the next adventure. But things had changed. They were happy, and didn't want it to end. Their love was true; this they both believed wholeheartedly. The two were young and could afford to waste some time together. So they didn't think — they just lived in the moment. Figuring out how their differing intentions in life would align could wait.

"Dayi," said Cecilia, lying peacefully on the bed with her head in his lap, blindfold off but eyes closed. "I never asked. Why did you leave camp? So suddenly and without a word to anyone?"

"Your uncle never mentioned it?" he said.

"Mention what?"

"Of course not. He and I had a disagreement."

She turned her head and looked at him. The book he'd been reading previously had been set aside.

"About what?" she asked.

"The war in Castrogiovanni. I told him I disliked how Rome handled it, and why. He was fond of how things went down."

"My aunt helped end that war."

"I'm aware."

There was an awkward pause before Cecilia said, "What do you think should have been done differently?"

"I think Rome should have sued for peace. They should have met the slaves' demands and granted them amnesty and freedom."

Cecilia sat up. "You can't be serious."

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"After all they did?"

"They fought for their liberation. Those were innocent people born into chains who took up arms for their right to a life without torture and persecution. Rome was wrong to just march in slaughter them."

Cecilia was silent for a while. He spoke with such conviction that she knew these were his firmest, most deeply-rooted beliefs. Nothing short of a god could change them. She despised slavery, but that war was a far more complicated affair than he made it out to be. Reyna had told her her first-hand experience with it. The insurgent forces had been murderers and torturers, issuing their retribution on more than just slavers. Not only did their revolt deserve to come to an end, but it would've weakened Rome for it to have not.

The woman didn't tell her lover this, though. She didn't want to argue with him, as it'd accomplish nothing good. They'd yet to have an argument since admitting their love for each other, and this issue could pop that bubble. They were both very proud people — it was one of the things that had drawn them so close so quickly. That argument would be disastrous, so it was best to avoid it.

"I guess you're right," she said, laying back down.

A silence followed. Dayi picked his book back up and continued reading while Cecilia closed her eyes again, content and thinking. She found it nice and blissful, and was soon able to forget about the previous topic.

"I've been too scared to ask," said Dayi. "What color was your hair?"

"You were too scared to ask _that_?" she said.

"I've been curious, but. . . I wasn't sure if you'd take offense."

"None. It was brown, like my mother's."

"Is that why you cut it off?"

There was a pause before she answered. "That. . . might have been part of it."

There was a breeze from the window, and she sensed an amused smile on his face.

* * *

The sound of birds outside woke Cecilia. She felt very warm and comfortable. She quickly realized it was because the blanket was bundled so tightly around her. The woman looked over at her lover, who was sleeping on his side with his back to her. His entire upper body was uncovered; she must have hogged the blanket away from him in her sleep. Guiltily, she draped half of it over him.

Glancing at the window, she saw it was still fairly dark. Cecilia decided to lay back and try to get some more sleep, but found her eyes lingering on Dayi's bare back, barely visible through the gap in the blanket. He shuddered as she ran a finger over a long, deep scar. She'd discovered it their first night together, but he'd refused to tell her how he got it.

"Your finger's cold," Dayi suddenly said.

Her hand recoiled. "I'm so sorry!"

He turned over to look at her, and he was smiling. Dayi gently grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, then the smile faded. He interlaced his fingers with hers, then said in a sad voice while meeting her eyes, "Have you ever had to kill someone?"

Cecilia was taken aback. "No. Nothing more than monsters. . . Have you?"

He gazed forlornly at the ceiling. "It. . . it wasn't easy."

"I can't imagine. What happened?"

He took a deep breath before beginning his story. "I was on the road, not long after leaving camp. Walked into some bandits' trap and was tied up before I could reach for my sword. I was dragged along for two days, being fed scraps, while their mouths watered at the thought of the profit they'd make off me and their other prisoners.

"We stopped for a night, and one of them stupidly had their back to our cage. I managed to reach through the bars and take his knife without being noticed. I cut the ropes of me and the other two captives. Then I grabbed the bandit and held the knife to his throat. I demanded they open the cage and let us go. They obeyed, and the other two were set free, but I was afraid to give up my leverage."

He paused. "I had a choice. There were half a dozen bandits fully armed, and all I had was a knife. The second I let my hostage go, they'd all try to seize me. I could take my chances running from all six, or increase my odds by reducing their numbers."

"What'd you do?" Cecilia whispered, staring intently at him.

"I made my choice," he said. "And I still don't know if it's the right one. I cut the man's throat, and immediately jumped out of the cage. I picked the path of least resistance, blocked by only one bandit. I stabbed him, took his sword, and ran. Then I scared their horses and cut their tethers so they'd run off. I was fast enough to outrun the bandits, but I was just slow enough that I couldn't get away before one of them left me a souvenir."

"Dayi. . ." she breathed.

"I got away. Managed to stumble into one of the other captives, who helped me dress my wound. And I survived, at the cost of two lives."

"You can't possibly blame yourself," she said. "You did what you had to do."

"I know that. And I know they got what they deserved. But it doesn't stop me feeling sullied. And it doesn't stop me wondering if I could have done things different."

Cecilia touched his face, turning it so he'd look at her. Guilt and sadness were written all over his expression. "You're a good person. You saved two lives that day. There's nothing sullied about you."

"It's not that cut and dry." He removed her hand. "I don't expect you to understand. How can you?"

"There are always going to be tough choices in life; I understand that, even though I've never had to make one. My uncle — you know how many people he's had to kill, people he'd at one point trusted. My aunt killed her own father to save her sister's life. These things happen. And you have to accept that, and learn to live with yourself. Admit that you've done nothing wrong."

He stared at her, his eyes wide. And after a while, he looked away, a contemplative look taking hold of him.

"Dayi!" she said suddenly, exasperated. "Why are you always doubting yourself?"

He was looking at her again, now confused and looking slightly alarmed. "What?"

"You keep doing this," she said. "You knew you loved me, yet I had to talk you into admitting it. Then after, you weren't sure whether we'd sleep together even though we both wanted it. It took you minutes to deliberate what you wanted to drink this morning! How long are you planning to travel around aimlessly before you decide what you want to do with yourself? Why can't you ever just be decisive — or listen to your heart instead of questioning what it tells you?"

Dayi opened his mouth, but didn't have a response. Then his eyes became watery.

Cecilia blanched. "I'm sorry! I didn't —"

He grabbed her face and pulled her in for a kiss. She was surprised and didn't know what was happening, but she kissed him back. And after a while, he parted their lips, but didn't let go of her. He pressed his forehead against hers, and neither of them opened their eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered.

* * *

Dayi acted strangely the next day. He'd been quieter, more thoughtful, and less observant. He'd have walked right into a door had Cecilia not hurried to open it for him. She was sure something was troubling him. But every time she tried to broach the subject, he put on a smile, said nothing was the matter, and told her he loved her. Although she knew he was hiding something, causing her to grow more concerned by the minute, the words still brought a warm sensation to her chest. But along with the warmth came an enigmatic feeling of dread.

The woman couldn't figure out what had changed. She wanted to believe that her words resonated with him and that he was simply doing his best to be less diffident. The woman knew that it was what he had needed to hear and hoped it would set him down a path where he wasn't so constantly conflicted about things, but hadn't expected such an immediate and drastic effect. And it didn't explain why she had caught him looking at her with such a sad expression earlier, or why he didn't want to have sex that night. There was something more going on — she wished she knew what.

Cecilia was resigned to keep an eye on him tomorrow and put in more of an effort to extract answers, or find out if he'd just had an off day. Praying it'd be the latter, she drifted off to sleep in her smallclothes, his hand in hers. She didn't dream, and didn't get a full night's rest.

She woke to the sound of a closing door. Propped up on her elbows, she looked around in confusion, seeing that it was still the dead of night. But she was alone in the bed.

In a panic, Cecilia shot to her feet and scrambled to put on clothes. She hastily strapped on her sword, picked up her shield, and ran out the door. Fear gripped her heart, yet she didn't know why. There was no sign of Dayi throughout the inn or outside. She looked both ways down the street and saw no one.

"Dayi!" she called out.

There was no response, though one annoyed face did poke out from a nearby window to glare at her.

Desperate, Cecilia knelt down, finding her blindfold in her pocket and putting it on. Her heart was beating furiously, which didn't help her concentration, but the winds responded to her. They showed her her surroundings more vividly than she'd ever seen, and at a greater distance. She begged them to show her Dayi, and they did. Down the road to her left, walking outside the city and getting farther away, was the man she loved. She didn't take the time to analyze why it'd been so effective — she just ran.

It didn't take long for her to catch up to him; he wasn't hurrying. Her pace slowed to a walk when she was several paces behind him. It was impossible that Dayi hadn't heard her, but he didn't turn. Instead, he began to sing — the same joyful melody she'd overheard before.

"_And I swear, I'll go home past that rain-soaked hill. . . or I'll be buried beneath it._"

"What are you doing?" Cecilia asked, voice dripping with fury.

Dayi stopped and sighed. "Go back to bed, Cecilia. I'm just on a stroll."

"Liar," she said, sounding hurt.

He turned to face her and looked pained as she took off the blindfold. He didn't speak.

"_What_ are you doing?" she demanded.

"Please put that back on. It'd make this easier."

She tied the fabric around her wrist.

He stared at it sadly. "I'm leaving."

"Why?"

"Because I'm done with you," he said, still staring at the blindfold. "I don't care about you, and I don't love you. It was all an act."

"Liar."

"I am not," the man insisted, still refusing to meet her eyes.

"What? Am I just to believe that I'm to be nothing more than another woman you've slept with? And now you're just going to pick up and go wander off to another city, still having no idea where —"

"I know _exactly_ where I'm going."

Cecilia stared. "What?"

"You told me to stop doubting myself. You told me to learn how to make up my mind. So I've made it."

"And what did you decide?"

He didn't answer.

"Tell me!"

"No."

"I won't let you leave until I get the truth."

"You don't want to do this, Cecilia. It'll only hurt more."

The woman took a step forward, and he retreated one. Then she saw his hand grip the handle of his sword. Her eyes widened. "You wouldn't."

"I never wanted to," he said quietly. "That's why I left in the night."

"You'd actually try to kill me?" Her voice quavered.

He opened his mouth to speak, but whatever he intended to say caught in his throat. He swallowed, and said, "Never."

"Tell me the truth."

"I don't want to."

Cecilia took another step forward, then his blade left its sheath and pointed toward her. She halted, eyes never leaving his face.

"Just let me go, Cecilia. Turn back, and walk away. Don't make me force you."

She took a haughty step forward, her hands still empty. For a fraction of a second, he looked into her eyes. Then the blade lowered.

"I'm going to Rome, alright?" he relented.

"And why couldn't we go together?" she said.

"Because I knew you wouldn't approve."

"Of _what_?"

"Please," he begged. "Don't make me tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Please," he said one last time.

"Tell me _what_?"

For five seconds, he tried and failed to fight her gaze. "I'm going to finish what Eunus started."

She gaped at him. "What?"

"You realized what those bandits wanted to do with me, right? You realize what I was saving myself from by killing those two men — why I have that scar?"

Cecilia gave a hesitant nod.

"Slavery needs to be abolished. I never would have been born had my father not freed my mother from it. It is evil, corrupt. And I want — no, I _need_ to rid the world of it. Eunus and his forces got so far in Castrogiovanni, but lost. I will succeed where they failed."

Cecilia couldn't believe her ears. "How?"

"By learning from the failures of the past. I'll do whatever it takes. I want equality."

"What you want is war. Cities burned to the ground; families ripped apart; children orphaned or murdered. To achieve something like that would cost tens of thousands of lives! That's _if_ you can even get a revolt like this off the ground."

"Suffering of war is temporary; suffering of enslavement is permanent. The former is worth ridding the world of the latter."

"You can't be serious."

"I am! It's a price I'm willing to pay. I aim to make the world a better place. Why can't you see that this is the right thing to do?"

"Because you'll fail! You're the smartest man I've met. You should be able to see that."

"Exactly," he said. "I'm smart — smart enough to succeed."

"But you won't! Be reasonable, Dayi! Rome is too powerful. Their numbers are too great. It's _impossible_."

"It's not. I'll build a following and an army, at the same time attacking Rome from within. It'll be a large blow when their famous female legatus is imprisoned for patricide."

Cecilia didn't comprehend his words at first. When she did, she was so shocked and felt so betrayed that she stumbled while taking a step away from him. "No," she breathed.

Dayi grimaced upon seeing the look of betrayal on her face. "This is why I wanted to leave quietly."

"Patricide isn't an imprisonable crime!" Cecilia shouted at him. "They'll execute her!"

His expression didn't waver.

"What's wrong with you?" she said in a voice barely more than a whisper. "This isn't just your own life you're putting on the line. Countless will die for the war you intend to start — a war that's impossible to win. Innocent people, Dayi. And it'll all be for nothing — because abolition isn't possible. Even if you accomplish anything, it'll never last. Slavery is too widespread; the wealthy are too dependant on it. They'll revolt against you, or whoever takes your place when you're inevitably killed. It's way too radical."

He swallowed and hardened his gaze. "If I don't try, who will? I can do this. I'm the only one who can do this. I'm _meant_ to do this."

"What happened to not believing in destiny?"

"Dammit, Cecilia, it's not destiny! It's my choice! My choice to bear heavy burdens for righteous change. Don't you _want_ to see slavery ended once and for all?"

"Of course I do. I also want a world where young demigods and legacies aren't constantly threatened or killed by monsters, but attempts to achieve that would be futile and damaging. It's not righteous change you'll be achieving — it's chaos."

He took a deep breath, then said calmly and slowly, "I can succeed in this. I'm telling you, I can. I _will_. . . or I'll die trying. I swear this —"

"No!" Cecilia's anguished scream carried through the night, but did not mute him.

"— on the River Styx."

The lone clap of thunder synced up with the sound of Cecilia's knees hitting the ground. And for a while, there was silence. Tears streamed down the woman's face. He'd sworn an oath that could not be broken. She'd lost him — forever.

"Why?" she sobbed.

Dayi didn't respond. Instead, he turned and tried to walk away, but a powerful gust of wind stopped him in his tracks. "Let me go."

Cecilia wiped her face and got to her feet. "I can't," she said, her voice trembling.

"Go back to bed," he pleaded. "It doesn't have to end this way."

She covered her eyes with the blindfold, tightened her shield around her forearm, and drew her sword. She could see the sorrowful expression he wore as clear as day. A dread-filled minute passed where neither of them moved. Her breathing steadied and her eyes dried, but her heart felt as cold as ice.

Then they fought. Cecilia struck first, closing the gap with a charge and bringing her sword down. Dayi parried the blow with his own, but didn't counterattack. In silence, their dance ensued, the clanging metal barely registering in the woman's ears. She was at a disadvantage, as she still wasn't adept at fighting blind, but sensed well enough to match him in skill. She knew two truths — he loved her too much to kill her, even if he won, and he couldn't be saved.

The duel didn't last long, but to her, it felt like an eternity. Every step, every swing of the sword, and every blow blocked by her shield seemingly dragged on for minutes. And yet it still felt too short. Cecilia didn't want the fight to end, as it could only end one way. She wanted it to last forever. She wanted to prolong their final interaction.

Too soon, Dayi was thrown to his back, pinned down by her knee, his sword having skittered down the road. The tip of Cecilia's was pointed at his face, but he wasn't looking at it; he was looking at her. She tossed her shield aside and ripped off the blindfold so she could see his fearful, sad eyes. But still, her blade hovered.

"_And we'll all. . . be buried beneath it_," the man shakily sang, the tune now matching the lyrics.

"You have a beautiful voice," she whispered.

"I wish you hadn't asked," he said sadly.

She released him and took a step back. He sat up, watching her carefully. A tense silence followed where the winds were the only source of noise. And it was eventually broken by a cry of pain. Her sword fell to the ground, blood staining the blade. Dayi was on his back again, Cecilia's arms wrapped around him while she wept into his chest.

"Do you. . . understand. . . now?" Dayi asked with his final breath.

* * *

It was the middle of the day when Cecilia entered through the city walls. Buildings and houses passed her by. Laborers were transporting goods and tools, kids were running around, and merchants were vending their wares. Everyone was so happy and full of life, but she hadn't felt that way in weeks.

The woman wore a cloak, the attached hood hiding her smoothly shaved head; she'd found sticking to her routine was a good distraction from her thoughts, but wanted to avoid attention. She no longer had her shield, which she'd sold to get the last bit of money she needed to buy passage across the Mare Nostrum. And at her hip was strapped an empty sheath, the weapon of murder resting at the bottom of the said sea; she couldn't bear possessing it anymore, and irrationally loathed the idea of someone else having it.

Time passed by too quickly for her taste, and Cecilia grew more nervous by the second. The streets were looking familiar now. She traversed them with ease, for the hundredth time wondering why she'd come here instead of going back to Chiron's camp. Then the house met her eyes, and her pace quickened. She feared that she'd lose her confidence at any moment and she'd change her mind, but soon enough, her knuckles banged against the door.

It opened, and a face appeared in it. Cecilia was disappointed that it was the one she'd come to see. She took a deep breath and said with a soft voice, "Hi, mom."

* * *

**A/N: Read the rest of the author's note, even if you usually skip them (especially the fifth paragraph). I'm providing a lot of information about all the characters' lives after the events of the story.**

**For those curious, the war mentioned in this chapter is the First Servile War, led by a man named Eunus. (And the city, Castrogiovanni, is in present-day known as Enna.) And for the sake of continuity, it started two years later in my story than it did in real life. Otherwise, it'd be happening at the same time as all the events surrounding the demigod rebellion, which wouldn't align with my several mentions of "a time of peace".**

**And just to clarify this, because I'm afraid it might be misinterpreted, I am definitely _not_ pro-slavery. Some might even say I'm against it (I'll take my Nobel Peace Prize now). So Dayi certainly had the right beliefs but had misguided ambitions. Everything Cecilia said was true, in that his war would have accomplished nothing but needless bloodshed and destruction before ending in failure. There were two more Servile Wars around this time period, the last of which was led by Spartacus, but both ended in failure despite having more going for them than Dayi did. For this point in history, abolition is impossible. It'd still be around a millennium and a half after Dayi's death that abolition would even _start_ to get anywhere.**

**And because I don't want to leave you all wondering, I'm going to give little summaries of this story's characters' lives following the events of the story. I'll leave most up to the imagination, but give a general idea for how their lives went.**

**Alabaster: After fleeing Neapoli, he begins moving south to get out of Roman territory. He eventually witnesses a particularly cruel slaveowner mistreating a slave woman of Egyptian descent and rescues her. They leave together to Alexandria, where they marry and have one son named Dayi.**

**Annabeth: Pursues architecture, at one point going to Castrogiovanni to aid in repairing the damage left by the war. She also played a crucial role in building Chiron's camp, which she visits on occasion. She remained on friendly terms with Percy, but the two were never as close friends as they once were.  
**

**Cecilia: Following the incident with Dayi, she reconciled with her mother and slowly built back up a good relationship with her. She was never as close with her step-father as she was when she was a kid, though. Through to the end of her life, she helped out at camp a lot, having a fondness for the young demigods being trained there. (I'm mostly leaving this one up to the imagination. You can decide if she ever loved again or had kids of her own).**

**Hylla: After her father's death and separation from Reyna, Hylla was guided away from the city by her mother. She eventually wound up being taken captive by pirates, being held for two months. One day she managed to break free of her binds and challenge one of the burlier crew members to a duel. Though she lost, her tenacity and vigor earned her the pirates' respect and joined the crew. She continued learning to fight with them, picking up the skills prodigiously with proper instruction, and eventually led a mutiny against the captain before escaping from the ship in the Aegean Sea. Finding her way to Byzantium, she claimed her own ship and put together a crew with her as the captain, sailing the Hospitable Sea (the Black Sea, in present-day) for a while. A storm then caused her to be ship-wrecked alone on the shores of New Otreria, where she joined the Amazons, growing close to another Amazon named Kinzie, who'd become her wife. Hylla worked hard and eventually earned the title of Queen of the Amazons, which she maintained until her death. Upon reuniting with Reyna, they kept a healthy relationship through infrequent visits to one another and contact via Iris-messaging (see below).**

**Leo: Learned everything he could from Archimedes III before his death. He became a master inventor, selling schematics to Rome while hiding his most dangerous creations, often coming around Chiron's camp to help out there.**

**Percy and Reyna: They never had kids. They never found the time for it, but Percy loved and cared for Cecilia as if she were his own daughter. Reyna cared for her too, but wasn't around enough to be as close with her. (Everything else can be interpreted from this chapter and the last.)**

**Piper: Raised Cecilia with her husband, who she stayed with though never loved. She was never whole after Jason died, but tried her best to be a good mother. She had a friendship with Reyna and Percy, being the one to suggest her daughter refer to them as aunt and uncle. When Cecilia ran away from home, she confessed to her infidelity. Although furious, her husband eventually forgave her and they stayed together.**

**Titus: When Rome came to reclaim Delphi following his father's defeat, he turned himself in for desertion and was executed.**

**Zoë: She became the first hunter of Artemis, of course.**

**And an extra little tidbit of information that never came up: A few years after Iris merged with Arcus, they opened the Iris-messaging system from canon to demigods and legacies, at the price of gold drachmas. Percy and Reyna used this to keep in touch even when she was away.**


	47. Author's Note: It's Finished

**A/N: (****If you read the last chapter — Love in the Wind — too soon after I uploaded it, I recommend you go back and take a look at the A/N section again. I added a bit more information that I forgot originally.)**

**I've gone through every chapter and made edits. Chapter 1 I've completely rewritten (most of you probably already know that), and chapters 2-14 I've gone through and done thorough revisions on (meaning I read through the entire chapters, changed sentences, dialogue, and even whole paragraphs). The rest I only went through with Grammarly to weed out grammatical errors, as well as removing outdated Author's Notes that are no longer relevant. If anyone's interested in rereading the story, now is the best time to do it because it's in its final state. Officially, I've made my last update to this story.  
**

**Writing this story was a great journey, and I'm thankful for the amount of people that were along for the ride. Your continued support was a huge motivator to keep me writing so consistently. I uploaded the first chapter just barely over a year ago now, and it's with great sadness and pride that I upload this final author's note. Thank you to everyone who read this far.**

**Now that the story's over, I beg you to review and let me know your thoughts. If you have any questions, I'll answer them. If you have any criticisms, I'll be pleased to hear them (I only ask that you state them in a respectful manner). I care about what you think and respond to every review I get.**

**My next project, which I'm very excited about, is currently in the works. If any of you liked my writing enough to want to see what I produce next, then please hit me with a private message or a review stating as such and I will message back when I upload the first chapter. It's going to be another fanfiction, but it won't be for Percy Jackson. It's for a show/anime called RWBY. I'm writing a complete AU, so watching the show isn't mandatory, but it's recommended (it's all free to watch, after all). ****As of writing this Author's Note, I'm still in the planning phase and still have a lot of work to do before I can get started writing the first chapter, meaning it'll likely be a few weeks before it's up. So again, if you're interested, PM me or leave a review stating so and I'll tell you when.**

**Below the line break is the old Author's Note I wrote a couple of weeks ago notifying you when the Prologue went up. I'm leaving it here for those who haven't read it.**

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**In case you missed it, the Prologue has been uploaded. It's a brand new chapter from Daedalus's perspective, and it's the first chapter (obviously), so go back and read it. After you read it, come back here and read past the spoiler alert.**

**Also, I threw together a new cover art for the story. I think it looks nicer than the old one, while still keeping the same theme.**

**SPOILER ALERT (Don't read this until you've read the prologue):**

**Okay, it's not that big of a spoiler, but whatever. I planted clues toward this a while ago, mainly in the guy's name, but yes. Daedalus's execution was ordered by Jason's step-father, though he was under the influence of Minos's ghost. If you Google Catreus, the first link will tell you that the original Catreus was King Minos's son and successor as ruler of Crete. That, coupled with the fact that Catreus Grace was legatus before Marcus, during the time that Daedalus was assassinated, were the clues to this. It's not exactly a groundbreaking revelation and doesn't change anything about the story, but I still wanted you all to know.**


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